Future Shock
by Chakat StarDust
Summary: Hao wakes up with only thoughts of revenge on his brother for stopping him taking the Great Spirit. Unfortunately for him Yoh is Shaman King and thirteen years have past. Hao struggles to adjust to this new world and finds he can learn a thing or two from a child-like werewolf.
1. Chapter 1

Star: New story, huzzah! There will be a few OCs in this and I hope you enjoy them. I own nothing but the plot and my OCs, so let's get this started!

Pain. Cold. Thoughts struggled to form… the mind was slow, frozen… why was it so cold?...Couldn't move, why did everything hurt? Where was he? Who was he? The mind fought to form coherency, struggled to free itself from the numbness that encased it.

"Hao…Hao Asakura. Who's that?" The voice came to him from what seemed like a long ways away. The words sank into his consciousness, and reawakened his memory. His eyes snapped open and with a surge of power he broke free of the container he found himself in, scattering burning metal through the air of the cave he seemed to be in.

A young girl flinched away from him, eyes wide with terror, but Hao ignored her for the moment, still fighting to remember what had happened and why he seemed to be hurt. All he could remember was Yoh…fighting him. A snarl escaped him and he teleported out of the cave.

The Spirit of Fire came at his call and he sat upon it, hovering high in the air. He couldn't sense Yoh close by and his fractured, slow mind realized he must have gone back home. He bared his teeth in anger and pain, the only thought in his head to destroy his idiot twin for daring to go against him and even hurt him.

He directed the Spirit of Fire to fly, to take him to Yoh, so that he might exact his revenge. His mind still felt terribly blank, and he could remember almost none of the trip, only coming back to himself from wherever corner of his head that he'd lost himself in when the Spirit of Fire stopped, hovering in the clouds above Tokyo.

He looked down, seeing the En inn far below and managed a smirk to himself. He felt dizzy, sick, cold, tired and everything hurt, but he'd be damned if he took a rest before making sure Yoh was no longer a threat to him. He dropped into the backyard of the Inn, quite literally.

A circle of fire marked his arrival, and the teenager that had been sitting quietly on the porch drew back with a startled yelp. Hao stared at him a moment; blonde, messy hair and hazel-brown eyes, he looked a little familiar, but he wasn't who he was looking for. That didn't matter though when the youth pulled out a sword and pointed it at him.

Hao growled and struck out at the boy with fire. The boy dodged aside quickly, coming up in a battle stance. Hao, pain and dizziness now making his head spin and his vision double, struck out again, attempting at least to disarm the boy. He managed to destroy a section of the porch instead. He geared up for another attack, swaying in place. The boy had nowhere left to run.

"**NO!" **The shouted command hurt Hao's head and he tried to whirl and attack whoever had distracted him. All the sudden he found himself unable to move, feeling as though a massive hand had squeezed around him tightly. He let out a wheezing whine of pain, everything hurt, why did it hurt so much? He lifted his head to stare up into dark, confused eyes.

"Hao?" The voice echoed strangely in his aching head and slowly Hao closed his eyes, letting the blackness wash over him and the pain to slip away.

%&%&%&%

"He shouldn't be here…"

"Sweetheart, where else is he going to go?"

"We have a duty to the people here, he could hurt somebody!"

"Not like this, I've made sure of it. Trust me, love."

"This is important to you, isn't it?"

"Yes. I would not risk this otherwise."

"Alright, I trust you. If he hurts someone though…"

"Don't worry, I'll be the first one to kick him out."

Footsteps… a hand caressing his forehead. "Hey, can you hear me?" he tried to nod, but his eyes were too heavy to open. "You're probably tired, but I want you to at least drink something, then you can go back to sleep, okay?" The hand lifted his head slightly and water trickled slowly into his mouth. He drank it slowly and then the hands slipped away. "Go back to sleep now, Hao." He faded back into the numb blackness.

%&%&%&%

Hao opened his eyes and then shut them again. It was too bright, why did it feel too bright? He opened one eye again slowly, wincing at the stab of pain in his head and allowed himself to adjust. When the brightness abated enough for him to see properly he struggled to sit up, a difficult feat it seemed, he felt very weak.

He blinked in confusion as he leaned his back against the wall, finding himself in a small, brightly lit bedroom. The door creaked open and Hao bared his teeth at the tall intruder. "Finally awake, I see." The man said with a smile, hunkering down next to Hao. He had long chestnut brown hair that fell in slight waves around a narrow face. Large, sleepy brown eyes regarded him carefully. He looked familiar, though Hao couldn't figure out why.

"Who are you?" Hao snarled.

"Where have you been, Hao?" The man asked in reply. His brow furrowed in worry or confusion, the expression turning the man's face younger, hauntingly familiar. Hao's mind reeled and he gasped.

"Yoh?" He stared at the adult, his twin. "What the hell?"

"It's been thirteen years since the…incident." Yoh said slowly, his voice was a low rumble in his chest, a far cry from the higher pitch of his teenage years.

"Thirteen years, but… how?" Hao gasped out.

"I was hoping you'd be able to tell me that." Yoh admitted. "We all thought you were dead."

"I'm sure you're very disappointed to find out that isn't the case." Hao spat. The lines in Yoh's face deepened with his frown, giving him a tired appearance. It was disconcerting to be staring at Yoh's eyes in an older face.

"I cannot speak for the rest, but know that I did mourn." Yoh said quietly. "Can you tell me what happened to you? You dropped in, nearly dead from blood loss from a wound that matches exactly the blow I dealt you all those years ago, still fresh somehow."

"I…I don't know. I was in some kind of container, I was cold, very cold, but… that's all I know." Hao frowned deeply. "It was in the Patch village somewhere, I think." Yoh scowled slightly and Hao's disjointed memories from the last time he was awake struggled to arrange themselves. "The one who stopped me… that was you… but it was so powerful…" Hao stared at Yoh and finally felt the massive waves of power emanating from the other. "No way." He choked out. "You, the Shaman King?"

"Surprised it took you so long to realize." Yoh replied calmly.

"So the tournament just continued without me?" Hao demanded furiously.

"Not quite. I don't quite remember all of what happened still, you weren't the only one badly injured, you see. Third degree burns over most of my body, I was rushed to the infirmary. They figured I was going to die, but the Great Spirit called for me. I don't really remember being taken back, I was doped up and in excruciating agony, but when we merged all my wounds were healed, thank goodness." Yoh explained.

"And with all your power you still couldn't find me?" Hao sneered. Yoh shifted and gave him a stern look.

"We are not omnipotent nor omniscient, we do not know everything. The Patch told us you were dead, there was no trace of your shamanic power that we could find, it seemed logical at the time." Yoh informed him.

"And yet I wasn't part of the Great Spirit, was I?" Hao pointed out condescendingly.

"That means little." Yoh retorted. "You could have chosen to walk the earth as a spirit rather than have to be in my head 24/7." Hao had to admit that seemed like a logical assumption. "I'm sorry we didn't look better Hao, but we had a job to get started, and a family to prepare for."

"What?" Hao gave him a blank look and then remembered the young man from earlier. "That boy, he's your son?"

"Yes." Yoh said proudly. "His name is Hana, he's thirteen years old. We wanted to make sure we had an heir in case something happened during the tournament, you see."

"That sounds… reasonable." Hao reluctantly admitted.

"I've put a bind on your powers for the time being, you can't use them." Yoh informed him.

"WHAT?!" Hao would have launched himself at Yoh if he wasn't so weak. Instead he glared hatefully at his brother. "HOW DARE YOU!"

"I have people here to protect, Hao, I will not run the risk of you hurting someone." Yoh sternly replied, unfazed by Hao's fury. "You need to rest. I've healed the worst of your injuries, but it's best if the body heals on its own." Yoh's voice had turned gentle, fatherly. "I'll come back later with something for you to eat, but for now, try to sleep."

Hao grumbled as Yoh left the room, but truthfully he was quite tired and so when he lay back down on the bed he was almost instantly asleep.

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Star: Review plz!


	2. Chapter 2

Star: So here we are, chapter two, and the introduction of some new characters, enjoy!

Hao woke up again feeling a bit better than before and strong enough that sitting up didn't cost him all his energy. He didn't try to get to his feet, feeling it better to preserve whatever dignity he had left rather than fall flat on his face. He could hear conversations and people moving about in the rest of the inn and wondered how many of Yoh's idiots were there and if they knew he was here.

The door opened and Yoh came in, smiling when he saw him awake. "Brought you some soup. I figured it would be best if we started you off with something bland, so as not to upset your stomach." He placed a bowl in Hao's lap and Hao's stomach betrayed him by letting out an obscenely loud growl at the smell. He glared at Yoh's chuckle and tucked into the soup.

"How many of your idiots are here?" He demanded.

"None of the guys are actually here, for the moment." Yoh shrugged his shoulders.

"Bullshit, I can hear people." Hao snapped.

"Oh of course, we are a fully operational inn, after all." Yoh informed him.

"Anna got her wish, huh?"

"In a bit of a different way." Yoh said. "We cater to supernaturals in need of a place to stay for business trips and the like. We also have a few boarders at the moment, all supernaturals as well. What better place for them to stay but somewhere protected by the Shaman King himself?"

"Hmph." Hao didn't like to be reminded that his moronic twin had been the one to become Shaman King and not him. He silently finished his soup, and then snapped at Yoh. "Why the hell are you still here?"

"You were quite badly injured, I'm making sure you don't have any lasting effects that I can see." Yoh explained. Anything else he was going to say was interrupted by a small…something…running into the room, flinging open the wardrobe door and hiding themselves in it. Yoh merely sighed in either exasperation or resignation and shook his head.

Presently a young woman stomped past the door. She had long curly black hair, freckles across her nose and cheeks and piercing green-grey eyes. She was of medium height and had pale, pale skin. She wore a pair of loose jeans and Doctor Who t-shirt. "Have you seen Luna?" She asked angrily.

"Can't say I have, Stella, why?" Yoh replied.

"She chewed up Darth Vader's legs." Stella growled. She stalked off, muttering angrily to herself. Yoh sighed again and walked over to the closet, revealing a tiny, waif-like child crouched inside.

"I good girl!" The child yelped at Yoh. Yoh lifted her out and set her down on the floor. She had messy, short white hair and big liquid brown eyes. She looked around eleven or twelve and had the distinctive facial features of someone with Down's syndrome.

"Now Luna, you know you're not supposed to chew on Stella's action figures, right?" Yoh reprimanded the child gently. Luna whined softly and ducked her head.

"Teeth itchy, little plastic men taste good." Luna muttered, stumbling over her words.

"Don't you have a teething ring?"

"Chewed up, all yucky now." Luna peered around Yoh at Hao. "Who he?"

"That's Hao, he's my twin brother." Luna's face contorted in confusion. "He's been stuck as a teenager." The confusion cleared somewhat from Luna's face.

"He Pack?" Hao's brow furrowed in confusion, her question didn't make sense.

"Only if he wants to be." Yoh told her, patting her head. "You should go apologize to Stella."

"Stella yell." Luna protested. "Don't like."

"I know, sweetie, but you did chew on one of her favourite collectibles." Luna moved towards the door on her hands and knees. "On your feet, remember?" Luna let out a grouchy growl and stood up, reluctantly walking out of the room. "That was one of our permanent residents, Luna."

"She has Down's, doesn't she?"

"Among other things." Yoh nodded. "She's a werewolf, and she's been raised by wolves for most of her life."

"Come again?"

"Some werewolves will run with a pack of actual wolves, you see? Luna's parents were killed when she was a baby and she was raised as part of the Pack. Her Pack was killed about six months ago and Stella and her lover Gregoire have the job of trying to reintroduce her back into human society." Yoh explained. "It's slow going, as you might imagine."

"And Stella and Gregoire are…?"

"Stella's a vampire, and Gregoire is… well he's kind of a Frankenstein's monster to be honest." Yoh said. "He's quite dead, and his head comes off sometimes. Hana loves him and thinks it's hilarious when they play soccer and the ball knocks Gregoire's head off."

"So he's like Bailong." Yoh nodded his head. "Who's Hana?"

"My son." Hao stopped and looked up at that, he'd forgotten Yoh was a father for a moment. It was weird to think about, Yoh as a parent, didn't fit in his view of Yoh. "I'm going to have to ask you to be as kind as you can to Luna, I don't care about anyone else. She understands what cruelty is, she just doesn't understand why people do it. She is very much a puppy."

"I will not intentionally hurt her, I'm not a monster." Hao protested.

"I know." Yoh assured him. "I just give the same spiel to everyone who stays here. Unhappy Luna means she hides and whines."

"I imagine it's pretty pathetic to watch." Hao murmured. He liked children, and a pre-teen with the mind of a child was about the same thing.

"She…very much misses her Pack, and if she gets comfortable enough with you, she'll try to crawl up into your lap if she's feeling really sad, so please, don't be alarmed." Yoh stood up, taking Hao's bowl from him. "Feel free to join us downstairs when you're feeling up to it."

"Oh, so I'm not a prisoner?" Hao asked sarcastically.

"You are allowed to leave, if you wish. Assuming you have anywhere you can go, that is." Yoh pointed out, and then left the room. Hao growled futilely at his retreating back and leaned up against the wall. He figured in another day he'd be up and walking around, but then what? Yoh was right, where could he go? Thirteen years…

Hao was used to getting used to new societal norms and cultures by this point, but the fact that his little time-skip had been unintentional this time made him angry, and a little bit afraid too, if he was going to be honest. He was at someone else's mercy for the first time in a thousand years, and he didn't like it.

The door slid open slightly and one large brown eye peered in at him. Hao smiled. "It's Luna, right?" He asked. The diminutive girl slid into the room, crawling on hands and her tiptoes.

"Luna simple, full name from wolf mean dark night with full moon, because white fur." Luna explained, tripping over her words. She came to crouch right beside him and sniffed at his face. "Nice smell, Hao smell."

Hao lifted a hand and scratched behind one of Luna's ears. The girl let out a happy sigh and then draped herself across Hao's lap. Apparently it didn't take much for her to become comfortable with someone, but then animals were supposed to have that ability to sense people who were good or bad, weren't they?

"Why was Stella so upset about what you chewed?" Hao asked, still stroking Luna's hair like he would a dog. Luna was silent for a long moment.

"Stella call… calls plastic men… co…coll-ect-ibles…say they important, say they… val-u-able…Do not know why." Luna seemed to have difficulty with the bigger words. It obviously still took a lot of effort for her to think like people instead of like a wolf.

"People are just silly about certain things, I guess."

"That what Yoh say. You come play?" Luna asked, sitting up and tilting her head at him.

"I need to rest for a while longer." Hao replied. Luna drooped slightly. "I'll play with you once I can get up without falling over." Luna brightened again at that.

"Okay!" She yipped and then quickly licked his cheek before darting out of the room. Hao rubbed at the wet spot on his cheek and smiled slightly. He wouldn't act friendly to anyone else in this godforsaken place, but Luna would be an exception, he wouldn't hurt her.

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Star: Review plz!


	3. Chapter 3

Star: I own nothing!

Hao wobbled slightly as he stood up, but thankfully he seemed to be balancing alright. He tottered over to the wardrobe, getting his legs sorted out as he did so and found some clothes inside. He wrinkled his nose in distaste; jeans and t-shirts, how mundane. Not like he had much of a choice though, so he pulled the least offensively coloured t-shirt on along with some jeans, grumbling all the while.

He headed downstairs slowly, taking his time to avoid taking a tumble and damaging his already bruised ego. He was halfway across the living room when a sound like a mixture between a yell and a howl rang out. "HAO!" He went down with a weight on his back.

He nearly snarled until he heard happy yipping sounds and someone nuzzling the back of his neck. It was Luna then, happy to see him. "Luna." An unfamiliar, yet somehow familiar female voice said from above him. "What have we said about pouncing on people?" The voice was stern, but kind. Luna moved off him and Hao sat up, seeing Luna with her head ducked submissively beside him.

"Sorry Anna." She whined. "Happy."

"I know you are, but he's still hurt and you're a lot stronger than you look for your size." Hao looked up, staring. Anna had grown tall and willowy. Familiar hazel eyes stared down at him, the calculating expression in them bringing back memories.

"Little wolfie, you cause big troubles." A deep, rumbling German-accented voice ended Hao's staring match with Anna. He turned to find a massive hulk of a man thumping down the stairs. He would be handsome, if not for his crooked nose, greyish skin, too big mouth and the ugly black threads stitching various parts of him together. Dark, nearly black eyes blinked slowly from beneath floppy brown hair and he smiled, revealed crooked, oversized teeth.

"Greg!" Luna yipped, launching herself at the man. Gregoire caught her easily and flipped her upside down, making her giggle.

"Little wolfie want to go play outside?" Greg asked, putting her down. Luna danced from foot to foot, nearly vibrating with excitement.

"Yes! Play! Ball!" She barked, and then sped out to the backyard, Gregoire clumping after her.

"Yoh convinced me to allow you to stay, but one wrong step and you'll be out on the street." Anna warned, folding her arms across her chest.

"Nice to see that some things haven't changed." Hao muttered, standing up. It was incredibly disconcerting to have to look up to meet Anna's eyes. Her eyes narrowed at him, ever suspicious. "Where's Yoh?"

"Brazil, he's been working on restoring the rainforest there." Anna said tersely. "He'll be gone for a couple days, but that just means I'm in charge."

The blonde-haired youth that Hao had tried to attack came flying down the stairs and then stopped, eying Hao suspiciously. The kid was a perfect mixture of Anna and Yoh. His hair was blonde, but had Yoh's messy quality and his eyes were a mix of chocolate brown and golden hazel. The eyes were deceptively sleepy looking, but Hao could see the intelligence behind them.

"Kaa-san, have you seen Gregoire?" Hana asked, turning away and pointedly ignoring Hao. Definitely his mother's son, Hao thought with amusement and annoyance.

"He's outside with Luna, playing ball." Anna answered.

"Cool." Hana walked out into the backyard.

"I'm hungry." Hao said imperiously. Anna moved faster than he could react and smacked him across the face.

"As long as you're here, you'll show proper respect for those who allow your sorry ass to live here." Anna hissed at him, gripping his chin and forcing him to look her in the eyes. "You're already walking on thin ice, Hao, like I already said, watch your step." Hao yanked his face out of Anna's grip. "If you're hungry, then go make yourself something, no one here is going to cater to you."

Hao stalked towards the kitchen, burning with anger and humiliation. "And clean up when you're done, too." He growled at her yell, cursing whatever gods thought this situation was funny. It really grated on his nerves that he couldn't do a thing about it either. He was too pissed off and too proud to actually make something himself, but he found an apple and some organic peanut butter and made a snack out of those.

As he was eating he heard the back door open. "STELLA! YOUR BOYFRIEND LOST HIS HEAD AGAIN!" Hana yelled.

"OH FOR CHRIST'S SAKE!" Stella bellowed from upstairs. Hao's curiosity overwhelmed his bad mood and he peeked into the living room. Hana was holding Gregoire's head in his arms, while Luna, giggling happily, led the rest of his body inside. Stella stomped down the stairs and then sighed, shaking her head at Gregoire. "You have got to stop playing soccer, sweetie, you always get your head knocked off."

"Football." Gregoire corrected impatiently. "Only silly North Americans call soccer." He rolled his eyes.

"Whatever, you know what I mean." Stella tsked, taking out a sewing kit.

"Hana like football, I like to play." Gregoire said patiently as his body sat down beside Stella and Stella began to sew his head back on. "Yoh not here, Anna not play, Luna just try to eat ball." Luna giggled and ducked her head, grinning sheepishly.

"Well, at least then she's not trying to eat my action figures." Stella grumbled. Luna whined and drooped. "Oh hell, I'm sorry Luna, don't be upset." Stella sighed irritably, reaching out and patting Luna's head.

"I try." Luna whimpered, leaning into the touch.

"I know you do." Stella said, far more gently. "I just got frustrated."

"Smell upset." Luna muttered, rubbing her face against Stella's arm. "Don't like."

"No worry, little wolf, Stella get upset too easy, don't mean anything." Gregoire stated, rolling his reattached head on his shoulders for a moment. "Come on, we play catch now." Luna yipped happily and zoomed out the back door again. Gregoire stood up slowly and seemed to notice Hao for the first time. "You shot at Hana."

"I was not in my right mind." Hao growled defensively.

"Yeah, and my dad kicked his ass." Hana said proudly, giving Hao a smirk.

"Only because your idiot of a father stole what should have rightfully been mine." Hao snapped. Gregoire huffed and walked out the back door, leaving them to duke it out alone.

"Oh yes, he's such an idiot, that's why crime rates are down globally almost to nothing." Hana taunted. "What would you have done with all that power, just gone on a killing spree, right?"

"You should learn to respect your elders and betters." Hao snarled. Hana made a rude noise at him.

"Elder, yes, because you're old as dirt, better…I think I'll reserve judgement for a little while." Hana said smugly.

"Arrogant brat."

"That's rich, coming from the king of arrogance. Trying to take the Great Spirit by force, what the hell was that about?" Hana asked. "I mean you're supposed to be some kind of genius, why would you do something so stupid."

"That's enough!" Hao snapped.

"What, you can dish it but you can't take it?" Hana taunted. "Eh, I need to work on homework anyways, have fun being useless." He sauntered off, giving Hao a flippant wave as he walked up the stairs.

"Apparently his mother's dominant attitude and his father's laid back-ness combined to create a smart aleck." Hao said aloud.

"I would say that's the most accurate description of his personality." Hao turned and stared up at the pink haired woman who walked through, escorting a pair of seven-foot tall dragons. He closed his eyes and opened them again, unable to believe that this woman was the timorous Tamao. He could see the steel in her, looking into her pink eyes. "He's mostly like that to people he doesn't like though, and since you attacked him, you fall under that category."

"And what about you?" Hao asked.

"I don't much care if you're here or somewhere else, but… keep your hands off the people I care about." She warned, walking past with the guests, who eyed him curiously, but without much interest.

So, everyone hated him here except for the half-wild wolf-child. Well, it wasn't as though he was looking to be friendly to them anyways.

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Star: Review plz!


	4. Chapter 4

Star: I own nothing!

Sleeplessness was not new to Hao. He'd been plagued by insomnia since his first life. He didn't like to sleep; it felt too much like dying a little bit at a time in his opinion. It didn't help that in sleeping his mind indulged in his fears and his sorrows, giving him nightmares. It was better not to sleep then, in his opinion; he was used to it anyhow.

When the house had settled for the night, Hao stole from his room and climbed up to the roof. He grumbled to himself at the sight of so few stars able to be seen. It was the city's fault, the humans' fault, it always was.

The door below him to the backyard slid open and little Luna stepped out onto the grass. She stretched up to her tippy-toes and then lay down on the grass, rolling over and over and squirming around on the ground, much like a puppy would. Hao suppressed a chuckle at the sight. She suddenly sat up and began sniffing at the air, tilting her head slightly.

"Haaaooooo?" His name was drawn out, almost like Luna was howling it. Hao walked to the edge of the low roof and dropped down into the backyard. Luna grinned happily at him and bounced over to give him a hug. "No sleep?"

"I don't sleep well." Hao answered.

"No sleep." Luna nodded her head. "No Pack, no cuddles." Hao assumed Luna was talking about missing the way her wolf family would all sleep in a pile. "No forest, miss forest. City smell funny, too loud."

"I agree with that." Hao muttered.

"Stella say need to learn to be around people, so live in city." Luna explained after a couple minutes of silence. "Some people nice, some not nice." She sighed. "I want Pack." Her voice was soft, desolate. "Miss running with Pack, miss nightsongs, miss cubs."

"You'll see them again someday." Hao said, at a loss of how to react. He knew grief, of course, but he didn't know how to deal with someone else's grief.

"Don't want someday, want now." Luna growled, lower lip jutting out in a pout while her big, liquid brown eyes stared up at him. Hao couldn't think to do anything but pet her messy hair. Luna whimpered and cuddled up to him, seeking comfort. Hao let her, because he had no idea what else he was supposed to do and he didn't want to push her away, upset her more than she already was.

"Hao smell nice." Luna said, burying her nose in Hao's hair and taking a deep inhale.

"What do I smell like?" Hao asked, trying not to chuckle. Luka thought about that for a long moment, brow furrowed in concentration.

"Cim-cimannin." She finally stuttered out.

"Cinnamon?" Hao couldn't suppress his chuckle that time.

"Yes." Luna nodded her head. "That. Spicy-sweet." She rubbed her nose against his shoulder. "Yummy."

"I'm not food." Hao teased. Luna stared at him for a moment, brow furrowing again. "It's a joke, Luna."

"Oh, don't get jokes." Luna yawned widely and snuggled up against Hao again.

"If you're sleepy, you should probably go to bed." Hao said, seeing her start to nod off.

"No bed. Lonely." Luna sighed, pawing at Hao a little. "Stay outside. No get sick." She wrapped her arms around one of Hao's arms, holding him like a teddy bear. Hao didn't have the heart to shake her off. He waited until he was sure she was asleep, softly snoring and legs twitching as she dreamed, and carried her up to her room.

He tiptoed out and sought out his own bed. He was very tired all the sudden and all he wanted to do was sleep for once. He wondered what Luna dreamt about, and thought that it would probably be her family, her Pack. Hao drifted slowly off to sleep, and when he dreamed, he dreamed of wolves.

He woke up to excited barking the next morning. He opened one eye, decided it was too early, and tried to go back to sleep. Hana screaming down the hallway "Dad's home, Dad's home!" convinced him he wasn't going to get back to sleep and he muttered petulantly to himself as he got up and ready for the day.

He trumped down the stairs, just as Yoh picked up his son and spun him around, then planted a kiss on his wife's lips. Hao sneered at the sappy sight. Luna was still barking happily, dancing around the Asakura family like a deranged monkey. Yoh chuckled and ruffled her hair fondly, making her spin around in a tizzy of delight.

"Oi." Stella said behind Hao. "Move your butt, some people got stuff to do." Hao moved aside for the vampire, dressed in an oversized t-shirt and a pair of boxer shorts, her hair up in a messy bun. "Do you dress like this just so that no one suspects you could be a vampire?" Hao asked. She gave him a disgusted look.

"No, I just happen to like dressing like this." She growled. "Not every vampire happens to like to dress like some kind of Victorian supermodel." She rolled her eyes and stalked off towards the kitchen, muttering to herself "Stupid supernatural romance novels."

"Do not ever mention Twilight to her, she will rant for hours." Gregoire stated, stomping down the stairs. He scratched at the stitches on his neck and then yawned widely. He wandered into the kitchen after Stella.

"She made herself a boyfriend." Hao muttered.

"Hey, Greg was alive before, but he got killed protecting Stella from a Hunter. She brought him back, and made sure he wanted to be back, so don't be judging her." Hana snapped.

"Your boy could use some manners." Hao commented to Yoh drily.

"I think he's in the right here, actually. Though he could be a little more polite about it." Yoh said with a stern look at his son.

"You want me to be polite to him?" Hana demanded incredulously.

"One should always endeavour to be polite to everyone." Yoh said serenely, chuckling when Hana made a face at him.

"HEY KID! WHERE'D YOU HIDE THE FREAKING CREAM?" Stella bellowed from the kitchen. Hana grinned and bounded off.

"You used it all up, Stella, remember?" He replied sweetly, poking his head into the kitchen. A low growl answered him. "She's nasty when she doesn't get her coffee, isn't she?"

"Stella like bitter hot drink. I say yucky." Luna rubbed her head against Yoh's arm. "Happy, Pack leader home."

"Yeah, I'm home." Yoh sighed happily. "It sucks to be away, but, that's work." He shrugged. "Shall we go see what Ryu's cooking up for breakfast, my dear?"

Anna shoved him lightly, but she was smiling all the same as she allowed Yoh to lead her away. Hao was left standing in the middle of the hallway, having been abandoned. "Story of my life." He muttered angrily to himself. He didn't notice Luna was still there until the wolf-girl bounced up to him and took his hand.

"Breakfast!" She yipped happily. "Ryu make yummy food, come eat!" Hao didn't have the heart, or rather a lack of heart, to shake her off, so he allowed himself to be dragged into the kitchen. It was painfully clear being subjected to her grip that werewolves were definitely a lot stronger than humans. He could only presume she understood to be careful with her strength.

The rest of them were already sitting around the kitchen table, while Ryu, who still sported that ridiculous hairdo of his, served food onto their plates. Luna pushed Hao down into the only chair left and promptly sat down in his lap. Stella snorted, trying to cover up her laughter at Hao's bemused look.

"I thought vampires drank blood." Hao drawled, eying her coffee cup.

"Of course we do, one of the few things humans actually got right." Stella rolled her eyes. "We can eat other things, we just sort of have to build up an immunity to it, you see? Besides, blood all the time is insanely boring. I'd probably deal with being sick just to get a taste of coffee." She sighed. "Sooo many good things about this era."

"I have to disagree." Hao snorted. Stella shrugged.

"Whatever dude, but you're missing out on some pretty kick-ass pop culture." She sipped at her coffee.

"Stella say bad word." Luna giggled.

"Whoopdie doo." Stella rolled her eyes again, but her smile was fond. Hao felt like the awkward third wheel, but there was no way for him to escape with a werewolf in his lap. He resigned himself to his fate; at least the food looked good.

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Star: Review plz!


	5. Chapter 5

Star: I own nothing!

Hao slid deeper into the hot spring, allowing the heat to seep into the bones. He had many moments throughout the day where he felt cold, bone-numbingly cold, and piled layer upon layer on himself in order to get warm. He supposed it was all in his mind, and he hated that he had some new weakness. How the hell was he supposed to cope with the winter, if this kept happening?

"So, this is where you're hiding." Hao lifted his head slightly to glare at Yoh.

"I see your fashion sense hasn't improved." Hao sneered, eying Yoh's loose jeans and overlong long-sleeved shirt with distaste. Yoh only chuckled mildly and put his hands in his pockets. The action lifted his shirt enough that Hao could see the round curved disc attached to his belt loop.

"Is that my earring?" He asked quietly. Yoh nodded his head sagely. "Why do you have that?"

"It was the only thing of you I could find, all I had to remember you by." Yoh explained gently.

"Why?" Hao was perplexed as to why Yoh would want something to remember him by.

"If I have to explain it, I don't think you'll understand." Yoh replied with a shrug. Hao growled at him for that remark. "I'm not saying it to be condescending Hao, there are just some things that cannot be explained in words. You should come out of there soon, the guests take priority for the hot spring."

"Of course they do." Hao muttered, standing up and getting out. He hated that he had to look up to meet Yoh's eyes now. Yoh didn't take any notice of his irritation and merely smiled.

"Oh, Anna has asked me to take you shopping today." Yoh informed him as he pulled on clothing. It was all Hana's clothing, and was a little too short on him. They were far too casual for his liking as well.

"Asked or ordered?" Hao asked bluntly. Yoh chortled and shook his head, making his long hair wave. "Why can't you just shop for me?"

"You'd trust me to bring back clothing that you'd actually wear?" Yoh gave him a jovial smile when Hao made a noise of disgust. "I thought not. We'll have some lunch and then head out. I think Stella wants to come as well."

"It's daylight though." Hao pointed out, following after his brother.

"Very observant of you." Yoh replied. "Some time back a sorceress came up with a spell that allows vampires to walk in the sun, so long as they have the pendant the spell's imbedded in."

"Oh." Not knowing that made Hao feel a little foolish.

"It's not something they like to talk about though, so keep it to yourself. Vampires still have a lot of enemies who would take advantage of such a weakness." Yoh said sternly. 'He sounds like a father.' Hao thought incredulously. 'Of course he does, he is a father for crying out loud!' The absurdity of his situation made him want to laugh, but he held it in, not wanting Yoh to know just how rattled this whole situation made him.

They headed down to the kitchen, where Stella was already waiting impatiently, drumming her fingers on the table as Yoh made a show of getting out some food and sitting down to slowly eat it. "You are so annoying sometimes." Stella growled at Yoh. Yoh just smiled at her. "Come on, I've been waiting for the hype over the Avengers DVD to die down for weeks now."

"We all have, no worries Stella. We'll have to watch it tonight." Yoh stood up, shoving the last bit of his food in his mouth.

"Still no manners." Hao muttered, fussily finishing his own food.

"More manners than you, Mr. Bad-Attitude." Stella hissed at him as she walked by. Hao growled at her, but got up and headed to the door, putting on a pair of Hana's running shoes, which pinched his toes.

"You don't have a car?" he asked, looking out into the drive way, seeing Ryu's motorcycle, but not a car.

"No, we use public transportation, or a taxi. Not many people have their own cars anymore, and those that do run on electric, as do the trains and buses." Yoh explained, setting a quick pace. "We'll be taking the subway."

"Tokyo doesn't have a subway." Hao retorted, before remembering that thirteen years had passed.

"It does now." Yoh responded cheerfully, while Stella snickered at him. Hao put his hands in his pockets and resolved to ignore the two of them for the rest of the trip.

The ride on the subway was….surprising. Hao's belief when it came to public transportation in big cities was that they were dirty, graffitied to hell and back and filled with the most unsavory characters. The subway had been clean, bright and the few people who had been on it had either been polite or kept to themselves. He didn't comment about it, knowing he would just essentially be saying Yoh was right about something.

The mall was similarly quiet, though it was the middle of the day during the week, so most were of course working or in school. Stella wandered off, presumably to get the Avengers, whatever that was. Hao of course went first to the more high-end stores that had more professional wear.

"Figures you'd go for the expensive stuff." Yoh muttered good-naturedly as Hao wandered around, picking out shirts and pants and vests to try on.

"Unlike you, I actually care about my appearance." Hao snapped.

"Unlike you, my career requires me to get my hands dirty." Yoh replied evenly. "And when I come home to my family, my main concern is comfort, not fashion. You get used to it after having to clean up an energetic baby." He was quiet for a moment. "I would suggest finding some casual clothing as well though."

"And why is that?" Hao demanded.

"Well, you never know, you might find a hobby that's a little messy, and you don't want stains all over these nice clothes, do you?" Yoh shrugged his shoulder. Hao grunted, but reluctantly admitted Yoh was right. Didn't mean he had to look like a slob in casual clothes though. By the time they were done he had a few pairs of dark jeans, a few pairs of slacks, plenty of button-up shirts in a variety of colours, a couple of polo shirts, a few vests and a pair of sandals, a pair of loafers and a pair of converse running shoes.

"You're as picky as Anna is." Yoh laughed when they were done. "At least you don't ask for my opinion and then completely ignore it."

"As if I'd even think of asking your opinion." Hao scoffed. Yoh merely hummed in agreement and waved at Stella as she bounced up with a couple bags of her own.

"Thought you were just getting the Avengers?"

"As if! They got new merchandise in and I finally can complete my Avengers collection." Stella grinned, pleased with herself.

"Well, I think we're done here, let's head on home."

Hao wanted to ignore Yoh for the ride back, and didn't even want his idiot brother to even have a chance at trying to talk to him, so he decided to strike up a conversation with Stella instead. "So how old are you, really?" Stella looked at him over reading the DVD box.

"Don't you know it's rude to ask a woman her age?" She growled. Hao raised an eyebrow at her. "Fine. I was eighteen when I was Changed, and I'm about 450 years old now."

"How did it happen?" Hao asked curiously. Stella rubbed at her nose, looking mildly embarrassed.

"It's horribly cliché, you know the whole young maiden falls for the handsome dark stranger? Yeah, that was me." Stella sighed. "I suppose I made up for it though by refusing to become one of his harem afterwards and setting off on my own. Got him in deep shit too, because we're not supposed to change people without the council's permission, you know?"

"So what did you do after that?" Stella pursed her lips.

"This and that. Got into a mix of science and magic for awhile, that's where Gregoire came from. Being a vampire you have to move around a lot, you know? So most of us take the opportunity to try out different things, keeps life interesting."

"Sounds interesting enough." Hao said. "And the immortality?"

"If you're looking to become immortal, I say forget it." Stella said sharply.

"And why is that?"

"Watching the people you care about die, having to leave friends behind, watching the world change while you remain the same, it gets incredibly lonely and tiring." Stella sighed. "A couple more centuries for me and Gregoire, then we're done."

"What do you mean?"

"When vampires become tired of living, they drink a specially made poison that will kill them finally." Stella said. "living forever is just too much time. Even vampires want a chance to find rest, you know?"

Hao had never thought of it that way, but he could see her point. He often woke up, looking out into the world and despairing that it was no longer the world he considered his anymore. He spent the rest of the train ride home in contemplative silence.

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Star: I own nothing!


	6. Chapter 6

Star: I own nothing!

"Tonight's the full moon." Yoh commented at dinner. Hao sneered at him.

"Oh really, how monumentally surprising." He said, voice dripping with sarcasm. "I'm sure the rest of us mere mortals would have never figured that out." Anna smacked him upside the head, while Yoh just had the patient look of someone who was waiting for the ball to drop. And drop it did, as he looked at Luna scratching at her back. "…This is about Luna, not the phases of the moon, isn't it?"

"To speak of one is to invoke the other, in this case." Yoh sighed. "She gets quite big, and is just as exuberant. We didn't want you not realizing and suddenly encountering her. She would not hurt you, but you expressing fear of her would wound her spirit."

Hao looked at the little werewolf, who was now happily making her chopsticks dance on the table top. "As if I could express fear over her." He scoffed. "She wouldn't hurt a fly."

"It's one thing to know it, and another to have a massive ball of fur with fangs and claws barrelling at you." Stella muttered, stabbing her veggies with one chopstick. "Be warned, she'll attempt to lick your face off if you don't push her away."

"I'll take my chances." Hao replied. Luna grinned at him and then scratched at herself again, twisting in her seat. "You got fleas, Luna?"

"No fleas. Feel moon, want to change, prickle fur want come out." Luna explained. "Teeth itchy." She proved this point by putting one of her chopsticks in her mouth and beginning to chew on it.

"No Luna." Gregoire took the chopstick from Luna's mouth. "I go find your chew toy, yes?" Luna nodded happily, but looked at the now teeth-marked chopstick longingly. Gregoire quickly came back with a dog's teething toy and gave it to Luna. Luna promptly starting gnawing at it, looking content.

"I believe it's Hao's turn to take care of the dishes, isn't it?" Anna remarked to no one in particular.

"What?!" Hao cried, outraged. "Absolutely not! Why would you even consider that I would-"

"You're living in this house, you don't pay rent, you need to do something to earn your keep." Tamao interrupted, Anna nodding in agreement.

"I liked you better when you were a timid little speck." Hao growled at her. She gave him a warning look.

"And I liked you better when I thought you were dead." She snapped back.

"Alright, enough." Yoh sternly ordered, cutting short their argument. "Anna is right, you cannot expect to live here for free. We all do chores, even me. Unless of course you want to stop living here…" Yoh added, raising an eyebrow at Hao.

"Fine, I'll do the damned dishes." He muttered petulantly, standing up and stomping off. It wasn't at all dignified, but it made him feel a little better about the whole thing. What really needled him was that they were right; he'd hardly allow someone to loaf around his home without expecting them to do something for him in return, now would he?

He did the dishes in silence, refusing to allow his temper to get the better of him again. He felt like he was being treated like a little kid who couldn't be trusted on his own. He was well aware that he looked far younger than the rest of them now, but he was a thousand years old, damn it! Where was the respect?

He hid out in his room for the rest of the evening, up until the sun was just about to set. He then headed downstairs and found Yoh's family, Stella, Gregoire and Luna sitting around the backyard. Hao noted that they had expanded the property. Beyond the garden paths was an open area like a field, where the grass grew long.

Luna eagerly watched the sun go down, dressed only in a thin robe, as the transformation would rip her clothes apart anyways. She danced in place, impatient. Hao felt just as impatient, though by the relaxed postures of the others sitting around he was the only one who felt this restless.

Finally the sun disappeared below the horizon. Luna let out a sigh, sliding the robe off her shoulders as fur began to spread over her body. She lifted her arms up to the sky and howled long and loud, the sound not quite covering the sickening cracks and ripping noises that accompanied her Change. It was over in only a few moments, thank goodness.

Luna was now what looked like an overly large, snow white wolf. Looking closely Hao could see definite differences, such as lower hindquarters, and more powerful forelegs. Her muzzle and tail were also shorter and Hao could see that her forepaws could be used as rudimentary hands and were equipped with wicked looking claws. She certainly looked the part of a fairy tale monster.

That illusion was shattered when she bounced up to him and rolled over, exposing her belly for petting. Hao chuckled quietly and knelt down to oblige her, making her happy enough to wiggle about in the grass. She playfully snapped at his hand and then darted off, running across the grass. She came back to nudge him with her nose, lowering her forequarters to the ground in a demand for him to play with her.

Hao discreetly looked back at Yoh's family, hating the idea of looking like a fool in front of them. But, one look into those big, soulful, hopeful eyes and he was lost. "Oh, the hell with my ego." He muttered and then set out at a lope across the grass. Luna chased after him, nipping at his heels and enticing him to a game of tag.

They ran for what felt like ages. Hao found it felt good to be using his body like this again. He'd grown too stagnant, too used to using the Spirit of Fire to get around and not using his own two damned legs. Luna pounced on him, making him tumble into the grass with her. They play-wrestled, Luna being careful to be gentle with him, but eventually she wore down and flopped down on the grass, pinning him by resting her large head in his lap.

"I never thought I'd see the day." Hao looked up and glared at Yoh as he sauntered over to them. "That settles it, you can't be evil, because if you were you'd be able to resist the puppy-dog eyes." Yoh joked. He sat down and scratched the fur along Luna's back. Luna let out a contented groan and licked Hao's hand. Hao could see that she was drifting off to sleep and was grateful when Yoh lifted her head so that he could get out of being trapped by her.

"She's the most happy when she's like this." Yoh murmured as he placed a blanket over the now sleeping werewolf.

"Then why not let her stay as a wolf?" Hao hissed back. Yoh shook his head and helped Hao to his feet.

"It's not that simple, I'm afraid." Yoh told him as they walked back towards the house. "There's the regulations of the supernatural council, which are in place to ensure the safety of their people."

"If she's living in the wild, I don't see how that's a problem." Hao pointed out irritably.

"Yes, but there's the issue of finding a pack that will accept her." Yoh replied. "And a pack that she will accept as a substitute for her own. It's not just the wild she misses, it's her family. From what I understand she blames herself for not being able to protect that family. So just sticking her in with another random wolf pack will do nothing."

"I understand." Hao said softly, feeling foolish for having overlooked those facts. "And she already thinks of you and your family as Pack, doesn't she?"

"Along with Stella and Gregoire, yes. So taking her out of this household would just bring her back to square one." Yoh went on. "It's only been six months, these things take time. At least she no longer cries herself to sleep at night."

"You're just going to leave her out here?" Hao asked, looking back at Luna's sleeping form.

"She always sleeps out here when she's in wolf mode. We try to discourage her from doing it while she's human though, please remember that." Hao's ears burned, obviously Yoh knew about him staying up with Luna and then carrying her to bed.

"Why teach her how to be human anyways, not like it's all that great." He snapped.

"That's not our call, but the council's." Yoh told him. "They know better than me how to deal with their own people, and Luna does enjoy learning and seeing new things. Curious puppy."

"Into everything of course." Stella grunted. "She'd better not go after my new Loki doll or I'm taking a rolled up newspaper to her nose." Hao shot her a look, but her expression was quiet, soft, as opposed to hard, and he realized the words had no real bite behind them. Yoh's amused glance her way told Hao there was a little bit of an inside joke between them.

Stella caught Hao staring at him and bared her teeth. "What?" She snapped at him. "Do you expect me to turn into a bat or launch into a soliloquy about the 'children of the night'?"

"That would be entertaining." Hao replied mildly.

"Sorry, my ability to pump out sonnets died with Shakespeare." Stella deadpanned.

"The thought of you performing sonnets just makes my brain hurt." Hana told her with a cheeky grin. She cuffed him over the head lightly, but was smiling all the same. Hao left after that, the show of familial love was getting on his nerves.

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Star: Review plz!


	7. Chapter 7

Star: I own nothing!

Hao was reading quietly in the living room when he suddenly had a lap full of werewolf. "Oof." He complained as Luna rearranged herself comfortably, managing to strike a couple of tender areas in the process. She finally settled and grinned up at him.

"Read." She said, holding up a child's picture book for him to see. Hao tried to take it from her. "No, Luna read, Hao listen."

"Okay." Hao settled back and Luna wiggled before opening the book.

"Clifford… the… big… red…dog." Luna read slowly, showing Hao the picture. She went through the story, which was a silly thing about a little red puppy who grew bigger than a house, only stumbling over a few words. When she was done she looked to him for approval.

"That was very well done, Luna." He praised, patting her head. She wiggled happily and then licked his nose before bounding off again.

"She loves that book to bits." Hao jumped slightly; he hadn't heard Stella come up behind him. "She reads it to someone at least once a day."

"She doesn't get bored of it?" Hao wondered aloud.

"Apparently not. She'll read other stories, especially more Clifford stories, but that's her favourite of all." Stella replied. "Crazy little wolf. Surprised you're so calm about letting her crawl all over you."

"I don't mind." Hao said absentmindedly. Stella looked at him, peering into his eyes.

"You really mean that, huh." She said with some amount of surprise.

"What is that supposed to mean?" Hao demanded. She just gave him a smirk and walked off. "Smug, annoying vampire." Hao muttered to himself.

"I think what she means is you snap at everything else that gets too close to you, but allow Luna to do whatever she pleases with you." Yoh commented from the kitchen doorway. "It doesn't surprise me much, knowing how much you allowed Opacho to get away with. You like kids."

"Just because you've seen me act in a pleasant manner to two young children-" Hao protested.

"Your misplaced sense of dignity will get the best of you someday. Try to enjoy yourself for once, Hao, it's not like you have anything else you have to do." Yoh interrupted. "I don't know exactly what it is you've been running from for a thousand years, but I do know you can't run forever.

"You dare-"

"Yes, I dare." Yoh's voice was stern. "Nobody else has dared, has forced you to stop and think before, have they? They either just denied you, or joined you. No one ever stopped to really ask why, did they?"

"Stop it." Hao ordered.

"No." Yoh stared at him. "You are destroying yourself, Hao, and you know it. Someone needs to end it, completely."

"And you think you can do that?" Hao growled disbelievingly.

"Maybe me, maybe someone else here. Living simply for revenge isn't living, you need to let go of the negative emotions holding you down so you can really see the world for what it is." Yoh told him.

"I know what the world is like." Hao retorted angrily. "Cold and cruel."

"Try watching the news sometime, it might change your mind." Yoh replied cryptically, and then walked out of the room. Hao grumbled about nosy younger brothers who didn't know their place. Still, he decided to take Yoh's advice and turned on the news, confident it would be just as violent as it always was.

He was surprised to find not a detailed report on some new homicide, but a report on the latest environmental summit taking place. He shook his head, but figured more violent news would be on the way. When the news anchor launched into a story on the inauguration of Iran's first woman president, Hao's jaw dropped. He switched the channel, finding another news station. This one talked about continued peace talks in North Korea. He kept switching channels and by the time he was done, had only found two news stories detailing violent crimes.

"Dad did that." Hao looked up at Hana and raised an eyebrow.

"I'll bet now you're not going to tell me how, brat." He growled. Hana grinned impishly.

"Actually I am. Figured I could rub the fact that Yoh found a solution that was better than yours." The brat replied.

"Well, go on." Hao growled as Hana paused, presumably to savour his coming revelation.

"Have you ever had a dream that shook you up, lingering in your mind, even after you'd forgotten all the details?" Hana asked.

"All the time." Hao said wearily. Hana gave him a sharp look, keen eyes trying to find the meaning behind his words.

"Dad used that. He gave people dreams, not just any dreams though, dreams of what it was like to experience the most awful things, rape, torture, suicide. He made people go through cruel bullying and being faced with racism and genocide in their dreams. Once they woke up, the dream would fade, but the feeling would stay with them. Over time, people began to become kinder, more understanding of one another."

Hao sat still, absorbing the simplicity and yet the sheer genius of the idea. Begrudgingly he had to admit that Yoh was smarter than he seemed. "What about the environmental issues?"

"Sort of the same thing, dreams, but he and a few of his friends have also made names for themselves as major environmental advocates, and with money behind their ideas from the Asakura and the Tao family, they've been able to get a lot of support."

"I see…" Hao refused to say he was impressed, but he was. "Population growth?"

"Almost at zero worldwide." Hana replied smugly. "Rampant consumerism is down too, I'm sure you noticed how few stores there actually were in the mall." Hao nodded; he had noticed. "It's not perfect yet, but Dad's working on it. By the time he goes to his grave, we might actually have something resembling a Utopia!"

"If it's so great, why do the supernaturals still stay in hiding?" Hao asked slyly.

"That's the supernaturals' fault." Hana made a face. "They're still too paranoid to think that all of humanity would accept them, but really I think they're just being silly now. Stella and Gregoire also argue for the supernaturals to come out of hiding to the council, when they're not dealing with Luna, that is. They're essentially government employees, so they have plenty of contact with the higher ups."

"You're a clever boy, I see your mother's genetics haven't gone to waste."

"And my father's." Hana snapped testily. "You've heard how he's solving the problems of the world, he's smart, he just doesn't feel the need to wave it in people's faces, unlike some people." Hao bristled, of course that last remark was in reference to him. "He's better than you, because he got all that power, and he didn't think about what he wanted out of it, but how the whole world would benefit. He's the most unselfish person in the world, and even though he's kind of scatterbrained and a bit embarrassing sometimes, I'm proud to call him my dad."

"That's quite the speech, how long have you been rehearsing it?" Hao taunted, well aware he was having an argument with a thirteen year old, and losing.

"Since you showed up and Dad told me who you are." Hana answered truthfully. "Killing everybody's a pretty stupid solution to a problem, if you ask me."

"No one was." Hao snarled. "And it would remove the problem, wouldn't it?"

"Pretty sure that's what the Nazis said too." Hao stared at Hana, stunned into silence. After a long moment he found his voice again.

"How dare you compare me to those monsters? They tortured people, experimented on them, took pleasure in causing them pain." Hao snapped. "My solution would allow the humans a quick death."

"It's still death, it's still taking the lives of millions of innocents, or have you failed to think of the children and babies you would have killed." Hana said harshly. "And what about the supernaturals that live among the humans, you'd wind up killing them too, wouldn't you?"

Hao clenched his fists, the urge to kill this annoying little brat rising within him, but for once his opponent had more power than him and he was not in the mood to look like a bigger fool than he already did. He simply stood up and stalked upstairs, wincing as Hana's final insult was yelled at him.

"Walking away means that I've won!"

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Star: Review plz!


	8. Chapter 8

Star: I own nothing!

He was sulking. He was well aware of the fact that he was doing so, but he didn't feel the urge to stop. For the last few days, the only time that Hao had emerged from his room was during meals, all other times he just shut everyone out, content to stew in his own frustration.

His door slowly creaked open and Hao prepared to ream out whoever dared disturb him, until a pair of big wet brown eyes looked in at him uncertainly. "Come on in Luna." Hao said, smiling at her. Luna crept in warily, lower lip jutting out in a pout as she stared at him.

"Hao mad at Luna?" She asked. "Luna bad?"

"What?!" Hao stared at Luna. "No, no, you're not bad, I'm not mad, why would you think that?"

"Hao no talk to Luna, no play, no read." Luna mumbled. Hao cursed quietly, he should have thought Luna would misinterpret his silence. She was too much like a puppy sometimes, easily confused and hurt. He sighed and opened his arms to Luna. Luna practically jumped into his embrace, whimpering and nuzzling against him.

"I'm sorry Luna, I've been a bit upset the last few days, but not at you, never at you. You could never make me mad." Hao softly told her.

"Luna good girl?"

"Yes, Luna's a very good girl." Hao smiled at her. She yipped happily at him, licked his nose and bounced up.

"Play! Hao play with Luna. Go park, go play park." She barked at him, tugging at his arm. Hao couldn't think of any way to refuse without hurting her feelings again, so he allowed himself to be practically dragged from his room and down the stairs, past a startled centaur couple and to the door, where she danced in place while Hao put on his shoes.

"Aren't you forgetting something, Luna?" He asked her patiently, pointing at her bare feet. She blinked at him. "You need shoes, Luna."

"Shoes. Shoes smell good, not supposed to eat. Shoes stop glass in tender feet." Luna rambled as she pulled on a pair of flower-patterned flip-flops. "Pretty shoes."

"Yes, they are very pretty." Hao put his hand on the door when an imperious voice rang out from behind him.

"And just where are you two going?" He turned and glared at Tamao, who put her hands on her hips and waited.

"Hao play park!" Luna answered happily. "Go play now, please?" Tamao's stern countenance softened.

"Do you have a watch?" She asked Hao. Hao shook his head. She pulled something out of her pocket and tossed it to him. It was an old-fashioned pocket watch. "Dinner's in two hours, I'd suggest you get her back in time to get her cleaned up. You'll be in charge of making sure she's presentable for dinner."

"Of course." Hao muttered. He opened the door and Luna shot out, running down the driveway to the sidewalk and waiting for Hao. Hao grinned and walked out to her. She grabbed his hand and led the way down the street, happily swinging her arms and skipping along. For once Hao didn't care what the humans thought as they walked together down the street, he was happy with Luna's happiness.

It took about ten minutes of walking to get to the park, partly because Luna often stopped to have a look at something, a flower, a squirrel, a falling leaf. Hao sat down on a park bench while Luna began to run around on the jungle gym. In her flip-flops, unkempt t-shirt, overalls and flyaway hair, she looked like an oversized five year old.

A young mother and her son, who looked about four years old, walked up. The blonde little boy went and sat in the sand with a bunch of sand toys. Luna jumped down from the jungle gym and joined the little boy. Hao stood up, prepared to make sure the mother wasn't going to see Luna as some kind of threat to the boy. The mother saw him standing up and smiled at him.

"I haven't seen you with Luna before." She said kindly. "Though you look as though you might be related to Yoh."

"Yes, I'm his nephew, Hao." Hao lied, coming up with a cover story quickly. "Moved in with him not too long ago."

"I'm Haruhi Suou." She introduced, bowing to him. Hao bowed back, inspecting her. She wore her hair in a short attractive bob and had wide brown eyes. She wore a pair of tailored jeans and a short-sleeved vest. Hao judged her to be in her mid-twenties. "The little munchkin is Hiroki. He and Luna like making sandcastles."

"So you know Luna then?"

"Anyone who comes here with their kids often enough know Luna." Haruhi chuckled. "She's hard to miss. Such a sweetheart, isn't she?"

"Yeah." Hao agreed. "And nobody minds her?"

"Oh heavens no. There's not a mean bone in her body and she loves all the little kids. She's especially cute when she gets to chasing balls or Frisbees. She certainly likes playing pretend and being a puppy doesn't she?"

"Uh huh." Hao nodded his head, watching Luna and Hiroki try to build a castle, babbling in baby-talk to each other. "She certainly brightens up any room."

"Yes. She always seems to know when someone's upset too and will just stay and talk with them until she knows they feel a little better." Haruhi sighed. "And to think not that long ago kids like her were bullied and called 'retards'. I suppose you're not quite old enough to remember that kind of prejudice though."

"I've been told some things." Luna was getting quite a bit of sand in her hair and Hao sighed, wondering how difficult it was to give a werewolf a bath. He looked at his watch after some more time chatting about mundane things with Haruhi and stood up. "Forgive me, but we must be going. Luna will be needing a bath before dinner."

"Oh, it's no problem." Haruhi laughed. "You talk like an aristocrat, though not as ridiculously as my husband tried to talk in high school, makes you sound like a medieval nobleman. Oh, don't mind me, I just think of odd things sometimes."

"Odd thoughts are usually the most fun." Hao replied. "Come on Luna, time to go." Luna whined, but got up and took Hao's hand. He said goodbye to Haruhi and the two of them began to walk home. He was surprised that he had actually enjoyed the conversation with Haruhi. He mulled this over while Luna chattered on about sand and playing and butterflies and whatever else caught her attention.

"Alright, bath time." He said when they got home. He half-expected her to try to run away like so many dogs would.

"Bath!" She instead cried happily. "Bubbles!" Apparently she did like baths, at least he didn't have to fight her on that. She bolted up the stairs.

"Where does she get all that energy?" Hao wondered aloud as he followed the hyperactive wolf-girl up to the bathroom. Luna had already stripped down and was waiting for him to run her a bath. Hao found the bubble bath and poured it in while making sure the water was nice and warm. Luna got into the tub, giggling as she played with the bubbles.

Hao let her play for a couple minutes before helping her start to wash. He found though her hair was quite poofy while dry, the water revealed it to be actually quite thin, almost baby-like. He washed her hair gently while she splashed him playfully, getting water all over the floor. She was able to wash most of her body, but Hao had to get in her ears to get the sand out for her.

When they were done she stood up. "Towel wrap." She yipped. Hao wrapped the towel around her, making a sort of hooded cloak out of the towel. He lifted her up and carried her, giggling, out of the bathroom. He dropped her off in her room and then went to the bathroom to clean up, then to his room to change into some dry clothes.

"Food time!" Luna greeted him when he got out of his room. "Good smells, chicken, yum."

"Luna, you think everything smells good." Hao chuckled, following her.

"No no. Brussels sprouts smell yuck, taste yuck too." She thought for a moment. "Fish smell yuck, but taste good. Rotten food smell much yuck."

"Alright, I get it." Hao smiled at her and sat down at the table.

"Nice to see you among the living again." Yoh commented mildly.

"Yeah well, Luna was lonely and she dragged me out." Hao replied, patting Luna's head. Yoh smiled knowingly at him, but said nothing else.

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Star: Can anyone guess where Haruhi is from?


	9. Chapter 9

Star: I own nothing!

"Hao, I need to speak with you." Hao looked up from the book that he was reading to Luna, who was draped across his lap.

"Can it wait until I am done with this book?" Hao asked, calmer than he'd meant to.

"Of course." Yoh replied, smiling warmly at both of them. Hao turned his attention back to his reading. Luna had brought him a book about a turtle named Franklin, who was afraid of the dark. It was another silly little tale, but he supposed it was cute and had a good message for small children, or in this case, a big-small child. He finished reading and went to find Yoh, who had wandered off.

He found him in the backyard watching Hana working with Amidamaru. "Well? What is it?" He asked impatiently. Yoh gestured for him to sit down.

"Ren and Horohoro are coming over to visit tomorrow." Yoh said, his voice oddly grave.

"So? What do I care?" Hao snapped.

"I'd like you to stay hidden until I am certain they knew nothing about what really happened to you." Yoh responded.

"Why?"

"I do not want to put you in danger if they did have something to do with it." Yoh said seriously. "You're my responsibility now, I will not see you hurt."

"I'm not a fucking child!" Hao cried, outraged.

"Then stop acting like one." Yoh said sternly, effectively shutting Hao up. "All you've done since you got here is act like a spoiled, surly teenager, except to Luna. If you're going to act like that, I'm going to treat you appropriately."

"You're an asshole." Hao muttered sourly, reluctantly realizing he was right. He stood up to go but some massive force held him in place.

"Tell us, promise us, you'll stay out of sight until we are certain it is safe for you." Yoh's voice had an edge of power to it that normally wasn't there. It was clear that it was not only Yoh talking, but the Great Spirit as well.

"Why do you care?" He asked the Great Spirit.

"We care for all, no matter what they have done, it is our nature, as it is his." The Great Spirit replied through Yoh. "That is why we have chosen him, to save this world and all our children."

"I promise to behave." Hao finally said softly. The pressure left him and he turned to look at Yoh, who looked just the same. Yoh gave him a gentle and slightly tired smile. Hao snorted and walked off, going to look for Luna; he'd promised to bring her to the library to find more books for her to read.

"Luna, silly puppy, it's library time!" He called. He was almost immediately knocked down by the excitable werewolf.

"Books, books!" She barked, nipping at his nose in her excitement and then shooting off down the stairs.

"I'll be joining you, I've got a few things in I've been waiting on." Stella informed him.

"Wonderful." Hao groaned. Stella glared at him, which wasn't all that impressive, seeing as she was wearing a Star Trek shirt. The only reason he knew that was because he was subjected to a ten minute lecture on the 'amazingness' that was Doctor Who after poking fun at one of the episodes she had been watching at the time.

"You can stop acting like a pissy kid anytime you know." Stella growled, heading for the door. Hao muttered a few choice curse words under his breath, but followed to the door, where Luna was doing an impatient little dance, waiting for him.

"Goooo!" She whined, practically throwing Hao's shoes at him.

"Okay, okay, I'm coming." Hao said, pulling on his shoes and opening the door to allow Luna to dart out. He and Stella followed at a more leisurely pace, each of them keeping an eye on the rambunctious girl as she flitted about, kicking up fallen leaves and chasing a few bugs.

"You know, I think we owe you a bit of thanks." Stella said grudgingly after a couple minutes of walking.

"And why is that?" Hao asked, honestly baffled.

"For helping out with Luna." Stella explained. "We all love her, but she can be a bit….much sometimes. Having you around means there's one more person for her to play with, and since you're new, she's more interested in you for now. Takes some of the pressure off, she's exhausting sometimes, you know?"

"She certainly is energetic." Hao deadpanned, earning a crooked smile from the vampire. "Where does your name come from, anyways? It doesn't seem like a name a young woman from the middle ages would have."

"My full name is Estelle. I always hated it. Like Stella much more." Stella replied with a shrug. "Had it legally changed the first chance I got."

"I was wondering also about how you obtained your much needed diet of blood in the days before the convenience of blood banks." Hao asked. Stella gave him a suspicious look.

"What's with this sudden interest in me?" She demanded.

"I am a curious man by nature." Hao admitted. "This is the first instance where we've been able to speak with each other without snarling, so it seemed to be an opportune moment. I've wondered about this for some time, but the few supernaturals that I've come across in my travels were very tight-lipped about such things."

"That's not surprising." Stella replied, appearing to be mollified by his explanation. "We've thrived for so long by keeping our secrets. Human blood isn't the only thing that will sustain us, unlike what certain movies and books seem to think. We used to feed off livestock, wild animals, other supernaturals, and the occasional willing human. Greg in fact used to allow me to feed from him."

"Where then do the stories of being stalked and drained come from?" Hao asked.

"Where any story comes from, the few idiots that decide to ruin it for the rest of us." Stella growled disgustedly. "There were always a few vampires that liked cruelty and fear and so they would seek out human victims, but it's the same thing as those few people who would rape and kill and torture. Not everyone is like that, but mankind decided to lump us all into that category."

"Humans." Hao said with venom.

"It's not like supernaturals are any better." Stella informed him. "For a few centuries there was this massive war between werewolves and vampires. The vampires thought that werewolves were beasts and should be made slaves and the werewolves just thought vampires were all assholes."

"That's an interesting way of putting it."

"Well, vampires do tend to have a superiority complex, especially if they start to separate themselves from society." Stella explained. "Greg and Luna keep me grounded, thank heavens. I'd rather not turn into some pompous 'lady of the night.' Oh god that just makes me sound like a prostitute."

"Shush, there's a child near." Hao said. She gave him another crooked smile as they headed into the library, then wandered off in search of her books. Hao tracked down Luna in the kids' section, where she was putting all the stuffed animals under the drawing table and then sat in front of it.

"What are you doing, Luna?" He asked her.

"Protect cubs. Cubs need protect." Luna explained.

"I see. Did you protect the cubs in the Pack?" Hao asked. Luna looked up at him with tormented eyes.

"Luna fail, Luna bad wolf. Good wolf protect, Luna not protect."

"You're not a bad wolf, Luna, you did your best, that's all you could do." Luna sniffled though. "Here, why don't you go pick out some books and I'll stay and guard the cubs for a while." Luna brightened a little and wandered off.

"Thank goodness for her short attention span." Stella said, seeming to appear out of nowhere with a pile of books.

"That was fast." Hao commented.

"I had these on hold, they were just waiting for me." Stella explained.

"So Luna… the cubs thing." Hao said, not really sure how to ask.

"She was minding the cubs the day the poachers came." Stella informed him quietly. "She tried to defend them, but got shot and passed out. The poachers left her for dead, but she's a werewolf so… When she came back around she saw that all the cubs had been killed and the rest of her Pack had been too. She wound up wandering, blinded by grief and ran into a town. Thankfully the supernaturals got to her first."

"I see." Hao stored this information in his head. He had something of an idea, but he wanted to let it stew for a bit before he decided if it was worth bringing up or not. Luna chose that moment to bounce over with a new book.

"Lookie! Has Stella name and Luna name!" She yipped excitedly, shoving the book under Hao's nose. He took it from her. It was called Stellaluna and had a little bat on the front.

"You want this one?" Stella asked.

"Yes, yes. Hao read when home, yes?" Luna asked.

"Of course." Hao smiled. The three of them checked out their books and headed back home, Hao feeling a little less out of place this time around.

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Star: Review plz!


	10. Chapter 10

Star: I own nothing!

Hao watched out the window as Horohoro and Ren stepped out of the taxi, obviously bickering about something. They stopped arguing as Luna ran out and threw herself on Horohoro, who laughed and picked her up to swing her around. Ren smiled and ruffled the little werwolf's hair. Horohoro didn't look much different, just taller and a bit bulkier. Ren had let his hair grow out, long enough to pass his waist.

Hao stayed far enough away from the window that he would not be seen if one of Yoh's friends inadvertently looked up. After a couple minutes of being mauled by the overenthusiastic girl, Ren and Horohoro headed inside, dragged a couple of bags with them.

He couldn't hear what was going on downstairs, but he could imagine the talk that was going on with Yoh and his idiots. He was surprised when only about ten minutes later his door opened and Yoh gestured for him to come.

"That seemed quick." Hao said suspiciously.

"I know when my friends are lying to me." Yoh replied. Hao gave him a hard look. "If they had been involved in the first place, I could be putting my own family in danger by revealing you, trust me when I say I am absolutely sure about this."

He hadn't thought about that, Yoh's family being at risk, and by that line of reasoning then Luna would be at risk. Yoh certainly would be careful about that, even if he was the Shaman King now. "Fine, let's get the fireworks over with." He grumbled.

"Just let Luna jump all over you, that'll at least confuse them long enough for me to talk some sense into them." Yoh joked. Hao gave him an unimpressed look and followed him out of the room. Horohoro was talking to Ryu and Ren was petting Luna while trying to look aloof, and failing miserably. They both noticed him at the same time.

"Please tell me I'm seeing things." Horohoro begged, closing his eyes. "Or maybe he's a ghost?"

"Hao no ghost, he alive." Luna yipped, bouncing over to Hao and hugging him.

"Luna, do you like Hao?" Ren asked, after an initial moment of shock.

"Yes, Hao good, Hao nice. Read books, play games, take to park." Luna hugged Hao tighter. Ren raised an eyebrow at Hao, who shrugged slightly.

"Okay, this has got to be the weirdest thing I've ever seen, and that's saying a lot." Horohoro declared. "What happened?"

"We're still trying to sort that out." Yoh sighed. "The Patch had him. All he remembers is waking up freezing cold."

"Thank you for reminding me of that, I haven't had a cold spell for two whole days." Hao snapped, feeling the chill seep back into his bones.

"It's a psychosomatic reaction, it will get better in time." Yoh replied soothingly. "I can't ask the Patch what they did, because I'm certain they would just want him put back wherever they had him."

"Is that such a bad thing?" Horohoro muttered. Yoh gave him a stern look. "Okay, okay, bad joke, sorry."

"He has no power, is that the Patch's doing as well?" Ren asked, gazing at Hao thoughtfully.

"No, that was mine." Both his friends looked at him in surprise. "Do you really think I'd allow him to be living here if he did?"

"No, good point." Horohoro conceded. "I'm guessing you want us to keep quiet about this, huh?"

"That would be for the best." Yoh agreed.

"If this is all, I believe we have business to attend to?" Ren reminded them.

"Oh right, just let me give the puppy her present." Horohoro said.

"Present?" Luna perked up, looking interested as Horohoro dug around in his bag. He came up with a brightly coloured ball about the size of a fist. He squeezed it and it let out a squeaking sound. "SQUEAKY!" Luna grabbed the ball, licking Horohoro happily on the cheek. "Hao play ball, play catch!"

"Alright, alright." Hao chuckled as she tugged on his shirt. "I'm coming." He wandered out to the backyard, taking the ball that Luna handed to him, squeezing it lightly, making it squeak.

"Squeaky, squeaky!" Luna barked, dancing in place. "Throw, Hao, throw."

He launched the ball in the air and Luna was off like a shot, chasing the ball. She caught it in her mouth before it hit the ground, dropped it back in her hand and ran back to Hao. Hao took it from her, rubbing the spit away and throwing it again.

"I never would have believed it if you told me, but here it is." Horohoro said from behind him. Hao threw the ball again, and turned to face him. "Come on, when you think Hao Asakura, you don't think cute werewolf babysitter."

"And who are you referring to as cute?" Hao demanded.

"Well, Luna definitely, but you're all short and young, so…." Horohoro chortled as Hao growled at him. "Must suck not being able to threaten me."

"I'll find a way." Hao growled. "So what do you do these days?"

"Work in the agricultural sector." Horohoro replied. "Sustainable crops, advocating for local farmers' markets. At the moment I'm working on a project bringing back endangered and almost extinct species of edible plants."

"That's an interesting endeavour." Hao reluctantly admitted. "What about Tao?"

"He works with corporations in China. He's been big in getting workers' rights in factories and improving environmental quality of the factories."

"You all just sort of work together to make this happen." Hao surmised.

"Yeah well, Yoh can do a lot, but it works better if there's more than one person advocating and making changes." Horohoro explained, stealing Luna's ball and throwing it for her. "It's not perfect yet, but it's getting there."

"So I've been seeing." Hao grumbled.

"A lot better than what you had in store for the world." Horohoro informed him.

"Enough with that already, I deal with that from Yoh's brat I don't need it from you." Hao growled.

"Hana? Yeah he's got a mouth on him, smart kid though." Horohoro grinned. "Doesn't much like me, he says I'm too flighty, whatever the hell that means."

"I'm surprised you're taking this so well." Hao commented.

"Besides Manta and Ren, I'm the friend that's been with Yoh the longest, I know the guy. He's not going to put his wife and kid and pet werewolf in danger because of you." Horohoro replied with a shrug. "Besides, without you're power you're not really much of a threat are you?"

"And what do you think the rest of Yoh's idiots will think of me being here?" Hao asked.

"Well, I think Manta would have a panic attack initially, but that's just his immediate reaction to anything like this, but he'd be okay. Chocolove might have some issues with it, but Yoh could talk him around. Lyserg… well let's just hope he doesn't come visiting, yeah? Thankfully for you, it's easier for Yoh to come visit then it is for any of us to come here. We just happen to both have meetings in the city at this time."

Horohoro threw the ball one last time for Luna and then headed back inside. "Unca Horo don't like Hao. Luna smell it." Luna informed him.

"Well, I did hurt him a long time ago." Hao replied, patting her head. She hugged him around the waist.

"Hao going to hurt Horo again?" She asked.

"No." Not yet, anyways.

"Good, make Luna sad. Unca Horo Pack, even if he not here all time." She explained.

"Am I Pack?" Hao asked. Luna looked up at him, chewing at her lip, looking troubled. She then shook her head. Hao's heart sank. "Why not?"

"Luna like Hao, Hao like Luna. But… Hao not like Pack, Hao snap at Pack Leader. Wolf not Pack if don't work with Pack. Pack family, Hao not want, so Hao not Pack. Luna sorry."

"No Luna, it's okay, I understand."

"Hao can be Pack, if Hao learn to like Pack. Pack good, Pack safe, Pack home." Luna sighed. "Miss Pack."

"I know, baby, I know." Hao murmured, hugging her tightly.

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Star: Review plz!


	11. Chapter 11

Star: I own nothing!

Hao stood in the kitchen, watching his brother and his wife washing and drying the dishes from the meal together. They fit so well together and it was clear from looking at them that marriage and parenthood had done them well. While Anna was still domineering and bossy, she'd mellowed quite a bit. Yoh exuded his quiet confidence that he always had, but there was a sense of maturity that had not been there before.

"Are you just going to hide in the shadows there the whole time?" Anna demanded, turning to him and glaring.

"Something on your mind, Hao?" Yoh asked, seeing him hesitate.

"It's about Luna." Hao said slowly.

"Oh? Is something wrong?" Yoh asked.

"Not wrong, I just had an idea. I know she feels responsible for the cubs getting killed and that she considers herself a bad wolf for letting it happen."

"Yes, do you think you have an idea of how to help her with that?" Yoh asked.

"I think it might be good for her to have a pet, something she can take care of." Hao explained.

"That actually might be a good idea…" Anna admitted.

"You don't have to sound so surprised." Hao snapped.

"We'd have to make sure she didn't try to eat her pet." Yoh murmured. "Although a trip to the pet store would quickly let us know if she could stand to take care of an animal."

"If you explained it to her, she'll understand, she's less wild than we think." Anna replied.

"Nothing like a puppy, or a kitten, that's too much work, a bunny, rat, maybe a ferret…." Yoh mumbled. "It's a good idea, Hao. Thank you. You're a good friend to her."

"Yeah, well…" Hao felt his ears burn and he turned away quickly before they could see him start to blush.

"If you're up for it, we can take Luna to the pet store tomorrow and let her pick out a pet." Yoh called as he headed for the stairs.

"I'll make a note of it in my very busy schedule." Hao said sarcastically. He heard Yoh chuckle behind him and shook his head, heading back upstairs to his room. It was almost Luna's bedtime and he decided to look in on her.

She was sitting in Stella's lap, the vampire had one hand hugging her around the waist and the other holding out a book. Her chin rested on Luna's shoulder and Luna was cuddled into the embrace, big brown eyes blinking sleepily. She held a tattered dog stuffie in her arms and a veritable army of other stuffed animals surrounded the two of them.

"Goodnight room, goodnight room. Goodnight cow jumping over the moon." Stella read in a soft, soothing voice. "Goodnight kittens, and goodnight mittens…" Hao saw then that for all Stella's grumbling, she really did love Luna. He walked away before the temperamental vampire could catch him walking, but his heart ached a little the rest of the night.

%&%&%&%

"Where going?" Luna asked as Hao led her downstairs to get their shoes on.

"We're going to the pet store, to have a look at all the cute little animals." Hao answered.

"Ooh, puppies, kitties, little mice-mice, birdies, fishies…" Luna bounced to the door, where Yoh, Anna, Stella and Gregoire were already waiting.

"I'm not certain why I need to come." Hao informed Yoh as he pulled on his shoes.

"Luna trusts you, and the more people around to curb her enthusiasm, the better." Yoh shrugged. "Besides, you might be able to pick up on something we miss. You've spent a lot of time with her after all, you know her."

"I suppose." A honk outside announced the arrival of the taxi they would be taking. Luna shot out the front door and climbed into the backseat of the van idling in the driveway. Yoh and Gregoire chuckled while Anna and Stella rolled their eyes. They piled into the taxi, Anna taking the front seat. Hao wound up in the back with Luna, who bounced in her seat while staring out the window in fascination.

"Like puppies, does Hao like puppies?" Luna asked.

"I like you, don't I?" Hao teased, ruffling her hair.

"Hao silly." Luna giggled. "Like kitties too, and little animals."

"You know that the little animals in the store are not for eating, right?" Hao asked lowly, trying to keep the cab driver from hearing.

"Luna know, Luna been in pet store. Don't need hunt, think little animals cute." Luna replied. "Only eat wild aminals, not ones in cages."

"Good girl." Hao praised, rubbing her head again. He ignored the pleased smile Yoh gave him from in front of him. The car ride didn't take long, thankfully; keeping Luna in an enclosed space was like releasing a super-bouncy ball into a small room. Luna shot out of the car almost as soon as they stopped, but stayed beside the car, waiting for the others to get out.

"Luna, hold hands with someone." Yoh reminded her.

"No running in parking lot, car hit, go squish." Luna replied cheerfully, grabbing Hao's hand, and then Stella's hand as well. They walked into the modestly sized pet shop. A large parrot greeted them with a 'Hello losers!' and was scolded playfully by the freckle-faced young cashier. Luna dropped to her knees next to a small pen in which a couple of golden retriever puppies play-wrestled.

They instantly stopped and wobbled over to investigate the wolf-girl. Luna played with them for a couple minutes happily, and then got up to go have a look at the other animals on display. Hao followed her, letting her chatter on about the pretty colours of the fish, coo at the other puppies and kittens, exclaim over a big boa constrictor and finally wandered over to where the smaller mammals, the rodents and the bunnies were being kept.

She was giggling over a few hamsters trying to run in the same wheel at the same time when a ferret in a cage behind her began bouncing around and making the soft clucking noise commonly known as dooking at Luna, Luna turned to see what was going on and Hao watched her instantly fall in love with the sable ferret.

Apparently the feeling was mutual, as the mustelid scrabbled at the glass, chittering excitedly at the little werewolf. "Yoh!" Hao called, gesturing his twin over. Yoh came over, took one look at the excited ferret and nodded his head. He called over the cashier.

"Can we take the ferret out to have a look at it?" He asked.

"Of course." The young woman said with a smile. "And it's a he, by the way." She opened the cage and lifted out the ferret, who wiggled excitedly in her grip. "He's very friendly, go ahead and pet him." She encouraged Luna.

Luna reached out and patted the ferret's head. In the mood to play, the ferret rolled over onto his back and batted at Luna's fingers, nipping playfully. Luna giggled and held out her arms, wanting to hold the ferret. The worker smiled and reminded Luna to be gentle, then eased the ferret into her arms. The ferret instantly went lax, completely at ease in Luna's arms.

"Luna, would you like to keep him?" Yoh asked, after a couple minutes of the ferret and the werewolf cuddling. Luna looked up at him, eyes wide and surprised.

"Keep… for Luna…? My pet…?" She stuttered out.

"Yes, Luna, he'd be yours. But, that means that you have to take very good care of him and clean him and feed him and give him baths if he needs it." Yoh told her seriously.

"I can do that!" Luna cried, hugging her new pet close. Hao noticed that she'd used the word 'I' for once, instead of 'Luna'. Either her adrenaline was helping her remember how to talk properly, or she was slowly remembering on her own. She kissed the very happy ferret's head.

"What are you going to call him?" Stella asked. Luna pulled at her lip and then looked down at the ferret, who was happily gnawing at one of her overall buttons.

"Chewy!" She chirped, prompting a laugh from the adults. A few quick purchases later found Luna in the backseat with Chewy in a large box in her lap. The little werewolf positively glowed with happiness.

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Star: Review plz!


	12. Chapter 12

Star: I own nothing!

Hao ran from Chewy, the playful ferret nipping at his heels. He was playing with Luna and Chewy in the living room, the two of them allowing Chewy to indulge in his favourite game of chase. Luna scooped up her pet and snuggled him, Chewy going limp with happiness as he always did. Hao smiled at the sweet picture the two of them made together.

Luna put Chewy back in his cage, a large contraption with a second story landing, a couple of tunnels and a hanging contraption like a hammock where he slept. Luna dutifully checked Chewy's water, and then, deciding the level was too low, took the water bottle to the kitchen to refill it. She came back with the full bottle and a piece of carrot, which Chewy eagerly grabbed and buried in his shavings.

"He's going to get chubby with all the snacks you sneak him." Hao commented, making Luna giggle.

"Hao go play park?" Luna asked.

"Why don't we have a little snack first and then go?" Hao suggested. It was about the time when Luna would have an afternoon snack after all.

"Blueberries?" Luna asked hopefully.

"If you want blueberries, you can have blueberries, but remember you can't take the whole container." Hao reminded her.

"Half?" She asked, giving him a pleading look.

"Alright, you can have half the container, but if you get a belly ache it's no one's fault but your own." Hao told her sternly. She grinned and licked his cheek, then skipped to the kitchen for her snack.

"Hey, where's Luna?" Yoh asked, coming downstairs.

"In the kitchen, having a snack, then we're going to the park." Hao answered. Yoh pulled at his lip thoughtfully.

"Change of plans, I'm heading out tomorrow again for a few days and think that we need a little family time before I go. We haven't had a picnic in a while." Yoh mused.

"I guess me and Luna will go some other time." Hao nearly snarled, angry that Yoh was going to take Luna away from him. Yoh looked at him in surprise.

"I think you misunderstand. I wanted you to come along as well." Yoh informed him. Hao blinked rapidly at him, trying to process what he'd just said.

"You want me along?" He repeated disbelievingly. "Why?" Yoh shrugged his shoulders.

"If I have to explain it, you will not understand." He said kindly. Hao snorted rudely, but Yoh only chuckled and moved towards the kitchen. "Don't eat too much Luna, we're going on a picnic." He heard Yoh say to Luna. "Go tell Anna, Hana, Gregoire and Stella, okay?"

Luna streaked past Hao on her way up the stairs. Hao sauntered into the kitchen, where Yoh was already making preparations. "Do you mind giving me a hand here?" Yoh asked him.

"Whatever." Hao said, but secretly he was flattered that Yoh had asked rather than demanded. It made him feel like he was a part of something rather than just an unwelcome interloper in their home. Yoh didn't say much to him, but it was a good kind of silence all the same. In no time at all the two of them had made up a decent-sized lunch of sandwiches, mixed veggies, fruit salad, thermoses of juice and a small cheesecake that had been picked up the day before for dessert.

"Nothing like a lunch you've packed yourself, makes you feel proud." Yoh chuckled, packing away the last of the food as the rest of the family came down, chattering excitedly. Gregoire was bringing his soccer ball, or rather his football, as he reminded everyone patiently. Luna of course had to bring along her squeaky ball from Horohoro.

The seven of them headed out, walking towards the park. Hana wandered ahead with Luna, taking interest in whatever caught her fancy. Yoh and Anna walked arm-in-arm, discussing things in low voices. Stella leaned into Gregoire's one-armed embrace while he tried to explain the intricacies of football and the European league to Hao. Stella cut in a couple times, arguing for or against certain teams, but mostly she was quiet.

They chose a spot a bit of a ways away from the playground in the park, under the shade of a nice big cherry tree. Hana and Gregoire practiced tricks with the football while Hao played catch with Luna. Yoh, Anna and Stella set up while chatting about business matters. Yoh had to remind Hana to be careful without saying that he didn't want Gregoire to lose his head in public.

They let the kids play for a little bit and then everyone sat down to eat. Hana started in on politics and Hao couldn't help but give his input. Soon they were in an argument about international politics and whether or not globalization was a good or bad thing, even in this friendlier world. It was refreshing for Hao to have someone arguing with him, no, debating, because it wasn't a mean-spirited argument, more of an intellectual one.

"That was fun." Hana grinned at him. "We should argue more often."

"I don't think that will be much of a problem with your stubborn nature." Hao informed him. Hana thought about that for a moment.

"Yeah, I agree with that, but you're even more stubborn than me." He added cheekily.

"I have to concede with my son, I've never met anyone more stubborn, and Ren Tao has been one of my best friends for years." Yoh added, laughing kindly.

"I never understood your friendship with him." Hao said, shaking his head as he helped pack up the picnic.

"To be completely honest I'm not sure I completely understand it either." Anna admitted. "I still want to smack him over the head sometimes."

By this point they were headed back, everyone chatting happily, or in Luna's case, chasing airborne seedlings. Hao felt a sense of contentment steal over him as they all strolled along. He was included in the conversations that sprang up. Somewhere in that short walk back to the inn he understood what Yoh had meant.

"Yoh, can I talk to you for a second?" He asked when they got inside.

"Of course Hao." Yoh replied. He kissed his wife on the cheek and then followed Hao up to his room. "What's on your mind?"

"I get it now." Hao divulged. Yoh tilted his head and raised an eyebrow at him. "Why you do all this, why you took me in, why you include me. You want me to be a part of this, a part of your family." Yoh smiled and nodded his head, obviously pleased. "But I don't understand why you'd want that."

"Let me ask you something Hao. Are you happy, right now in this moment?"

"Yes…" Hao admitted, completely perplexed.

"When was the last time you were happy?"

"I don't really remember, to be completely honest, it's been that long." Hao laughed despondently. "Kind of sad when you think about it, right? I think the last time I was truly happy was when my mother was alive."

"You had someone back then, someone who loved you and who you loved back." Yoh said. "Someone to help you through the pain and someone to make good memories with. Without that, without someone to share life with it hasn't been very fulfilling, has it?"

"No, not really, but I don't see…"

"Hao, I saw it, when we first met, the loneliness in your soul." Yoh revealed. "I always thought that if I could just get past that shell of anger and figure out how to show you that you were not alone in the world, maybe I could make a difference in your life, because nobody deserves to be alone."

"Not even someone like me?" Hao asked quietly.

"No, Hao, not even you. Do you know why I do all that I do?" Yoh asked.

"Because you're a goodie-two shoes?" Hao shrugged.

"No, because seeing people hurting makes me hurt too. I'm soft-hearted, I fully admit it, but it's my strength, not my weakness. So, I want to stop you hurting. I want you to be a part of this family, a part of this Pack." Yoh finished. "It might sound stupid to you…"

"It's not, it's not. No one has wanted me, not for me, not me for me. They've always wanted my power and I secretly hated them for that, because I was being used as much as I was using them. I want… but I don't know if I can trust that anymore." He confessed.

"If it comes down to trust, you know you can trust Luna at least, and Luna trusts us." Yoh reminded him. "I don't expect you to just jump right into this Hao, but I want you to know that you are welcome as part of this family."

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Star: Review plz!


	13. Chapter 13

Star: I own nothing!

Hao sat on the porch stoop of the backyard, absentmindedly throwing Luna's ball for her whenever she came back with it. He was thinking on Yoh's offer, on the implications it had for him. He wasn't sure he knew how to be in a family anymore, how to exist in a group of people without them being minions and he being the ultimate power. What if he only proved he couldn't get along and was tossed back out again? He wasn't sure he could take that kind of rejection.

"You seem to have something big on mind." Gregoire's heavily accented voice commented above him. The big man sat down heavily on the porch, making the wooden planks beneath him creak.

"What would you think, if I became part of Luna's Pack?" Hao asked. Gregoire shrugged.

"You practically are, you just don't act as Pack." He informed Hao.

"I just don't believe you all could stand having me be a part of that." Hao admitted.

"Stella like you because you good for Luna, and she like having someone else to be nasty to." Gregoire grinned, showing off uneven teeth. "Hana like having someone to argue with, Yoh love everybody and I think Anna respect you."

"What about you?"

"You not bad guy, little testy, little prickly, but you like Luna, and Luna like you, so you alright. If I could just get you to take interest in football…" He laughed at Hao's look. "You seem to be fitting in already, you just won't allow yourself to completely meld into Pack."

"Did you have a family before this?" Hao asked before he could stop himself.

"Not really. I was taken in by monks and raised in monastery. Was not bad childhood, but not family, you know? Did learn to read and to love reading, though I did ask questions that the monks did not always like." He chuckled. "Stella found me in the library when she came to visit. She love to read too. We started talking about religion and its stupidity and we just… Bam! Gone like that. She took me with her when she left and about two years later I was killed. She had refused to turn me you see and by time she got to me after attack, it was too late."

"I had wondered." Hao admitted. "So this is your family now?"

"Of course. Is good, always good to know you have someone who have your back." Gregoire shrugged again. He reminded Hao somewhat of Yoh, slow to anger, though he was not nearly as lazy.

"So Hana likes being able to argue with me?" Hao asked, coming back to that point.

"Most grown-ups don't take him seriously enough to argue. You do, he like that." Gregoire explained.

"Nice to know why he keeps baiting me then." Hao muttered. "I just don't know about this…"

"You don't have to, no one be mad if you didn't." Gregoire informed him. "Luna be happier if you were Pack though."

"Greg throw, please?" Luna begged, holding out her ball. "Hao not throwing good today." Gregoire chuckled deeply and threw the ball long and hard. Luna howled happily and chased after it.

"Isn't it the full moon soon?" Hao asked.

"Yup, tomorrow night. She be quite more energetic tomorrow." Gregoire chuckled again. "Want lots of scratches tomorrow." Hao remembered how itchy Luna got when it was close to the full moon. He laughed quietly at the thought.

"Thank you Gregoire, for giving me a few more things to think about." Hao said sincerely before getting up and heading inside. Chewy the ferret chattered at him happily as he went by so he knelt down and petted him through the bars of his cage. Chewy nipped his fingers and then charged off, playing in his tunnels.

"You've been quiet since the picnic yesterday." Anna commented when he stepped into the kitchen, looking for a snack.

"Having a bit of an existential crisis." He admitted, a little touched and a lot unnerved by her concern.

"Seems a little late in your life for that." Anna commented, giving him an interested look.

"Yes well, for a thousand years I haven't had to think about how I do things, change the way I think about things. This is a little odd for me." Hao answered. "I'm having my ideas about how human beings are supposed to be changed before my eyes, and my ideas of how people perceive me as well." Anna raised an eyebrow at him. "How would you feel if I joined your family?" He asked bluntly.

"Would that give me permission to smack you like I do Hana when he's being stupid?" Anna asked deadpan.

"Wouldn't you do that anyways?" Hao demanded.

"Of course I would." Anna replied loftily. "For all intents and purposes you are family already, and lord only knows how you managed to do that without us noticing. You're a pain, as you've always been, but you are one of Luna's favourites, and that does mean something, even to me."

"You've mellowed over the years, Anna, I'm not sure if I approve or not." Hao commented.

"Having kids tends to change one's perspective on life." Anna responded. "Now if you're done asking irritating questions, some of us have an inn to run."

%&%&%&%

It was odd not having Yoh around, the place seemed a little less vibrant without him. Luna was a little bit mopey without her Alpha around, which was likely why the place seemed dimmer. "Is she always like this when he's gone?" Hao asked Hana, who was watching the current US debate with him.

"Oh yeah." Hana nodded his head. "Gets like this when anyone leaves for longer than a few hours. I mean you've seen her when I come home from school, haven't you?"

"Yes, she practically bowls you over in her exuberance." Hao responded. "I don't think I like this fellow," He said, indicating the candidate onscreen. "He's avoiding the question."

"Psh, that's politics." Hana snorted contemptuously.

"Doesn't make it right. I thought your father was supposed to eliminate this kind of thing?" Hao asked slyly.

"Stupid petty stuff like this? He's not going to waste his energy. So long as people aren't getting hurt by other people he doesn't care what the opposition thinks about taxes." Hana huffed. "He's got bigger problems to worry about."

"You think you have an answer for everything, don't you?"

"Of course I do." Hana gave him a cheeky grin. He changed the channel. "Enough of the monkeys, let's watch something a little more interesting. Ooh, old episode of CSI!"

"You know this stuff is all fake, don't you?" Hao groaned. "All these cop shows, they're nothing like real life."

"They don't have to be for me to enjoy them." Hana retorted. "Come on, the stories are cool, the characters are interesting, especially Grissom."

"Which one is he?"

"The older dude who likes bugs and always has the cool line at the beginning of the episode." Hana replied.

"Ah, right." Hao was quiet for a few minutes. "Why is that man trapped in a box? Did we miss something?"

"Oh yeah, this is the two- part one where Nick gets kidnapped and buried alive and they have to find him. This episode is so kick-ass!"

"Watch your language, we don't need Luna learning that kind of thing." Hao reprimanded Hana sternly.

"Oh, right." Hana said sheepishly. "Hey is this what having a brother feels like?" He asked suddenly. Hao gave him an odd look.

"I wouldn't know, I've never had siblings before."

"What do you call Yoh then?" Hana pointed out.

"Yoh and I… I never saw him as a brother, so we have never had that bond." Hao explained. "Besides if I am anything to you, I am your uncle."

"Hm, you might be right. You'd be the cool uncle though that doesn't talk down to the kids then." Hana decided.

"I suppose I can live with that." Hao said, though he was once again surprised by the easy acceptance he was being shown. It seemed too easy, but he decided that it would be worth the risk. He was officially going to try to be Pack.

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Star: Review plz!


	14. Chapter 14

Star: I own nothing!

Honestly Hao had thought things would feel a little different now that he'd accepted being a part of the Pack, but they didn't. Oh, it wasn't a bad feeling, just sort of anticlimactic. He came to realize that he'd long since been a part of the Pack, just not in his mind, so it was all a bit moot anyways. Still, the knowledge that he was a part of something bigger and more important than himself seemed to center him a bit…. as did the werewolf currently sitting on his legs.

"Luna, I can't feel my thighs." He complained. The pure white wolf just grunted at him and chewed on the bones from the steaks they'd ate last night. He sighed, giving up on standing for the time being. Stella was of course laughing at him because she enjoyed seeing him in pain or embarrassed or both at the same time.

"You're lucky she's got the bone, otherwise she might chew on you." Hana teased.

"Ha ha, very funny, brat." Hao muttered, scratching Luna behind the ears. "Interesting question for you Stella."

"Oh, and what's that?" Stella raised an eyebrow at him.

"Is Luna able to transform without the full moon? Because you said she lived as a wolf for most of her life, yet the only time I've seen her transform is during the full moon." Hao explained.

"Good question actually. Werewolves can transform without the moon, but it takes a lot of effort and pain and they can wind up stuck if they do it that way." She explained.

"Luna was wolf from birth, in company of other wolves, her body decided best to be wolf all time, so she never transform." Gregoire added.

"I see, that makes sense, I suppose." Hao admitted. "It does explain why she stays human when she clearly would rather be a wolf."

"That's also because she actually tried to turn wolf in the early days and wound up on the floor crying because it hurt so much." Stella sighed sadly. "She didn't try again after that."

"Poor baby." Hao cooed, scratching the fur along Luna's spine. Luna groaned happily and rolled over, exposing her belly for rubbing. Hao laughed and obliged, loving the way her tail thumped against the ground and her mouth hung open with her tongue sticking out while she wiggled happily. "You're a dorky puppy." He informed her. She replied by licking his face and nuzzling into his chest, tail wagging a mile a minute.

"Alright fuzzball, time to get off Hao before his legs fall off." Stella ordered. She brought out Luna's squeaky ball and squeezed it. Luna shot up and bolted over to Stella, sitting and waiting for her to throw the ball, head cocked to one side. "Go get it!" Stella called, throwing the ball high. Luna barked and ran after it, bouncing along when she had caught it.

Hao rubbed life back into his legs and then tottered back over to the porch, practically collapsing beside Hana. Hana began telling him a story about how a boy in his class thought that homeless people in the 1990s were just lazy and the two of them got into a debate about the older forms of social assistance vs. the new ones. With the crickets weaving their symphony through the night and fireflies dotting the lawn like small stars Hao had to admit that this was just about perfect.

%&%&%&%&%

Hao listened to Luna chatter happily about the ducks they'd fed in the park. Distracting her seemed the best method for dealing with her mopey attitude when Yoh was gone. Yoh wasn't due back for another week or so, so the Pack was on almost constant Luna distraction duty. None of them minded, it was better than mopey Luna and it did get him out of the house at least once a day.

"Hao saw duck with funny feathers?" Luna asked as she skipped along.

"I did." Hao agreed. There had been one duck which was obviously having issues making his feathers lie straight. Luna had giggled over him for about five minutes at the park. It had been mildly funny, though the duck, who kept trying to preen himself, didn't seem to think so.

Just as they were approaching the inn a car pulled up to the driveway and a tall man unfolded himself from the passenger seat. Hao didn't think much of it except to note the unusual circumstance of someone who had taken the time and the fees to rent a private vehicle for their own use. He didn't think much of it until the sun caught on forest green hair and the man turned to stare at him with emerald eyes.

"You!" Lyserg Diethel snarled, and brought out the gun in his shoulder hostler. Hao froze, no idea what to do without his powers.

"NO!" Luna's cry was half-howl half-shriek and before Hao could stop her she had pounced on Lyserg, knocking him to the ground and the gun out of his hand. "NO GUNS! GUNS BAD! BAD LYSERG!" She yelled, pounding on his chest with small fists.

Hao snapped out of it then and moved, picking Luna up and hauling her off Lyserg. "Luna, stop!" He ordered. She looked up at him, lower lip trembling and brown eyes huge and wet and tormented.

"Guns bad, no guns, bad bad." She whimpered. Hao groaned, of course she'd have issues with guns after having her whole Pack die by guns. He opened his arms and she basically collapsed into them, crying like a little lost puppy, which she essentially was. He lifted her up, letting her wrap her legs around his waist and her arms around her neck like a baby koala.

"That was well done." He hissed at the Englishman, who had yet to get up. Hao turned deliberately and headed back into the house with Luna safe in his arms. "Lyserg's here." He informed Anna when she stared at them both. "I'm going to keep him away from Luna for a little while."

He brought Luna up to Stella, thinking she'd have a better idea of what to do with a distraught werewolf and then crept to the top of the stairs, listening in to the conversation below.

"What is he doing here?" Lyserg's voice was loud and angry.

"How about a question for me first, how come Hao came in here carrying Luna while she sobbed?" Anna replied, her voice softer but hard and severe.

"I… may have pulled my gun on Hao." Lyserg admitted. To Hao's ears it sounded like he knew he'd done something wrong.

"You know how Luna feels about guns." Anna snapped. "That was stupid of you and could have been very dangerous as well!"

"What did you expect me to do?!" Lyserg demanded. "Why the hell is he here and why isn't he dead?"

"We don't know why he's not dead, not even he knows. All we know is that he was kept by the Patch and that he woke up a little more than a month ago with no idea that thirteen years had passed." Anna explained. "As to why he's here, Yoh felt it better to allow him to stay than kill him and start this whole bloody cycle again in five hundred years. I for one agree with his decision."

"How? He's put this entire place in danger." Lyserg's voice had gone shrill.

"No, he hasn't. You should know that he's not going to play around with the lives under his care." Anna admonished. "He's put a block on Hao's power, he's completely helpless."

"I should just kill him then." Lyserg muttered, just loud enough that Hao could hear him. A second later he heard the sound of a palm smacking flesh.

"Hao is Pack." Anna practically snarled. "Do I have to remind you what that means? Or what it will do to Luna if he is harmed?"

"Do you expect me just to ignore the fact that the killer of my parents is still alive and they haven't been avenged?" Lyserg demanded.

"Yes, I do." Anna's voice was iron. "Because you're not just hurting Hao this time, no, this time you hurt the people who care about him, including Luna. Do you want to do to her what he did to you? Because that's what you'll do. I'm sure Yoh's told you this before, but hate only turns you into the very thing you despise. Grow up Lyserg, and stop letting the hate think for you." There was a pause for a moment. "Your usual room is free. Oh, and Lyserg? If you tell anyone about him being here, I'll kill you myself."

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Star: Review plz!


	15. Chapter 15

Star: I own nothing!

Luna held onto Hao's arm while they sat together, watching Hana train with Amidamaru in the backyard. Luna had been adamant about staying by Hao's side once she'd gotten over her panic attack/flashback moment. Hao didn't mind, though he was worried that if Lyserg did decide to ignore Anna's orders that Luna might get in the way and get hurt. He wouldn't be able to forgive himself if that happened.

"How the hell have you bewitched her?" Lyserg's harsh voice demanded from behind them. Luna stiffened against Hao and he stroked her hair in order to calm her.

"Language, Diethel." He reminded Lyserg mildly. "And didn't Anna tell you I have no power? I have done nothing to her, if anything she has bewitched me." He kissed the top of her head.

"I don't believe you." Lyserg snarled. Luna growled in reply.

"Hush, Luna." Hao gently admonished. "That's the problem with hate, it blinds you, I speak from experience. Did you become a policeman or something, or did you keep the X-Law gun?" He asked.

"I thought you knew everything?" Lyserg taunted.

"You really don't listen, do you?" Hao sighed. "I do not remember the last thirteen years, I have been… I guess frozen in time. I would have thought the fact that I am still sixteen in appearance while the rest of you have grown up would have been a clue."

"I became a detective." Lyserg snapped, interrupting Hao. He moved to stand in front of them and looked down at Luna, who clutched Hao tighter and growled. "He's evil, Luna, you should stay away from him."

"No, Hao no evil, Hao good." Luna stubbornly said. "Hao play catch, play tag, take me to park and talk with Haruhi. Hao read to me and help me learn to read. He help me with Chewy and let me wrestle with him. He not want Pack at first, but now he Pack. He love me, and I love him."

Hao was impressed; that was the smoothest speech that Luna had ever given. His and Stella's work with her language was obviously paying off. "That's very good Luna, that was very good talking." He praised, making her beam happily. Lyserg opened his mouth, no doubt to try and sway Luna again. "Enough, Diethel. Do you want to upset her more than you already have? You're already on thin ice, if you upset her more she might never forgive you."

Lyserg shut his mouth and glared at Hao, but Hao could see that Lyserg knew that he was right. He stalked off back into the house. "Boy does he hate your guts." Hana commented, sauntering over.

"Can't say I blame him." Hao replied. "Wish I could tell him that revenge doesn't magically make everything better."

"You sound as though you speak from experience." Hana commented. Hao rested his chin on top of Luna's head.

"I do." He admitted quietly. "Killed the men who killed my mother. Didn't do anything, I was just as angry, just as lost."

"How about now?" Hao smiled.

"I am content, as I have never been." He replied. "The very thing I was running from turns out to be the thing I've always needed."

"Yeah, life's funny that way sometimes." Hana chuckled, reaching down to ruffle Luna's hair. "Later, Uncle Hao."

"Later, brat." Hao replied.

"Bad Lyserg want hurt Hao." Luna muttered.

"Yeah, he does."

"I no let, I fail to protect Pack before, not fail again." The grim determination in Luna's voice made the hair on the back of Hao's neck prickle. He hated to think what Luna might do if she felt he was truly threatened. He resolved to stay out of Lyserg's way for as long as he was staying there, just to make sure Luna wouldn't feel she needed to do something drastic.

%&%&%&%

It was an unusually quiet night in the inn. Hana had some kind of parent-teacher meeting, so Anna and him were gone at that. Tamao had a date and Ryu too, though not together, that would have just been weird. He, Luna, Stella and Gregoire had decided, well, Stella and Gregoire had decided and Luna had dragged him into it, that they were going to watch a movie. So he was stuck between Luna and Stella, watching Balto.

It was a fitting movie for Luna, he supposed, it was about wolves after all. He found himself enjoying it, and was happy that the movie didn't have the ridiculous music numbers that some kids' films did. Luna was especially happy when Balto finally accepted his wolf heritage and howled. She in fact had to be prevented from howling with him.

Suddenly Luna stiffened and let out a low growl. Hao stiffened as well, though he didn't know why Luna had reacted that way. "Well, well, isn't this cozy?" He stiffened further at the unwelcome, familiar voice. "The monster surrounded by more monsters."

"Marco…." Hao growled as the tall blonde stepped into the room. "You're looking older, and not in a good way." Marco was losing patches of his hair and was attempting to hide it with a comb-over. "No Iron Maiden?"

"She is waiting." Marco assured him and then brought up his gun to point it at Hao.

"NO!" Luna roared and launched herself at Marco before Hao or Stella could grab her. The gun fired, making an odd hissing sound instead of a bang and Luna toppled over mid-leap, a tufted dart sticking out of her neck. She tried to stand but collapsed on the ground, unconscious.

"Stop, enough." Hao pleaded, getting to his feet. "Take me, go ahead, I won't fight, but leave them alone, they've done nothing wrong."

"Such sentimentality, it seems the years have weakened your heart." Marco sneered and then shot another dart at Hao. He felt the barest of pricks and then there was simply darkness.

%&%&%&%

He woke up and groaned, sitting up and clutching his aching head. He carefully opened his eyes and sighed at the sight of bars in front of him. A prison cell, of course. He looked around a little more carefully and realized he recognised the sandstone walls surrounding him. He'd been taken to the Patch village. He frowned in confusion; why hadn't Marco just killed him off immediately.

"JESUS FUCKING CHRIST WHERE ARE WE?!" Stella's voice bellowed out.

"Stella, we're in America." Hao called, standing up and walking to the cell bars. Across the hallway Stella scowled at him. "I'm sorry."

"Don't be sorry for what other dicks do." She growled.

"Stella? Hao? Greg?" Luna's scared voice asked. "I smell you."

"It's alright Luna, we're here. We're going to be alright." Hao soothed. He heard footsteps coming towards them. "We're going to get out of this, I promise."

Marco and the Iron Maiden stopped in front of his cell. Lady Jeanne had grown into a beautiful woman, but her eyes were still cold and dead. Marco opened the door of his cage and grabbed Hao roughly by the throat, pinning him against the wall and cuffing his hands in front of him. Marco then pushed him out of the cell, forcing him to walk.

"Why did you take them, they've done nothing wrong." Hao demanded. "You wouldn't kill a child, would you?"

"The beast-child we will take, she may yet be saved, if we can break her devotion to you." Lady Jeanne replied, her voice icy. "The vampire will be destroyed, and her poor puppet as well, it is the only way to release his soul."

"And me? Why didn't you just kill me?"

"We all know you'll just come back and try again." Marco sneered. "The Patch have finally uncovered the spell that will completely eradicate your soul from existence."

"Of course." Hao muttered. They'd come out into the middle of a large cavern by this point. He wasn't surprised to see Silva as the leader of the Patch. Lyserg was standing in one of the corners, and looked away when Hao glared at him. He was made to kneel in the middle of what looked like a pentagram. "I'm so sorry." He whispered to his Pack and closed his eyes, waiting for it to end. Silva was just beginning to speak when an infuriated roar echoed through the chamber.

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Star: Review plz!


	16. Chapter 16

Star: Um, yeah, so… character death this chapter…ohgodpleasedontkillme. *hides*

"No…" Hao murmured, hearing the roar again, this time closer. "No, please no, stay away." He begged, but he knew it would do no good. They'd threatened her Pack, and she wasn't about to let her Pack down again.

Luna barreled into the room, huge and enraged, scattering Patch officials like nine-pins as they tried to hold her back. For the first time Hao could see why a fully transformed werewolf would strike fear into any man's heart. Luna's teeth were bared in a snarl of rage and the fur along her spine stood straight up. She looked like a demon that had just clawed its way out of hell and she corroborated this image by letting out another earthshattering roar.

She swatted at the men trying to contain her, making them fly through the air as though they weighed nothing at all. Hao was so focused on Luna that when hands grasped him he jumped. "Hold still for a second." Stella told him. She managed to pick the lock on his shackles and helped him to his feet. Hao stared as Gregoire joined the fighting, fending off anyone who got too close for his liking to Luna.

"What happened?" Hao asked as Stella tried to lead him away from the fighting taking place.

"She freaked out as soon as they took you, and then got mad. It's easier to transform when there's anger involved." Stella explained. "She tore the doors of the cells off their hinges, let us out before running off intent on making sure you were alright."

Hao was about to reply when Marco noticed them edging towards the tunnels out. He stalked towards them, drawing a gun, different from the dart gun he'd had before. Luna noticed him and flew at him with a roar of rage. Marco pivoted and fired at her. The roar turned to a yelp of pain and Luna crash-landed into the floor.

She snarled though and tried to get up, her white fur already matting with blood on her underbelly. Marco raised the gun again, aiming at her head. A shot of pure energy blasted into Marco, knocking him back. Hao and Stella ran over to Luna.

"Keep her safe, we'll deal with the riffraff." Ren stated, stepping past them to where the Iron Maiden was now getting ready to fight. Horohoro, Ryu and Hana joined Ren, Hana winking at them as he walked past.

"Brat." Hao murmured, guessing Hana had galvanized the others into action. He turned his attention back to Luna, who had collapsed with a groan, blood pooling on the floor beneath her. "Luna?" He whispered, patting her head. She shuddered and began to shrink, turning back human.

Hao could now see the damage the bullets had done, leaving deep holes in her belly and chest, seeping copious amounts of blood. Luna gasped for air painfully, though when her eyes found Hao's they were serene.

"Oh god, they must have been silver." Stella whispered in horror.

"So that's true in the old myths?" Hao asked, lifting Luna's head to cradle her against him. Stella nodded, biting her lip.

"It's okay, we'll be okay. Once they're done with these guys we'll get you to a doctor, okay?" He told Luna, who stared up at him still with that oddly serene expression.

"Go home now." She whispered, smiling slightly.

"Yeah, we'll go home soon." Hao agreed.

"No, go home now." Luna repeated. Hao froze and stared at her. She smiled back at him. "See Pack now."

"Luna? Luna no." Stella pleaded, her voice choked up. "Luna you can't go. I'll let you chew up all my action figures, just please, don't go." Her voice broke. Luna reached out a shaking hand to touch her face. Stella took it and held it.

"Good Stella. Good Pack, nice Pack, but… not same." Luna said sadly, her voice growing even softer.

"Luna please, I'm sorry for saying you're annoying, I'm sorry I got mad at you for stupid things. Please don't go." Stella pleaded, tears running down her face.

"Good, good Pack… but… not…. all mine…" Luna gasped out. "Stella…good…no cry…Stella…best…just… not…right…Pack…"

"Shh, it's okay Luna, we understand." Hao stroked her cheek softly. She blinked slowly up at him.

"Go…. see mommy… now." She whispered, voice barely audible. "I… love… all…. You…" She gasped out. The dimming light in her eyes went out, leaving the ever-expressive brown orbs lifeless and flat.

"Luna? Luna!" Stella let out a keen of anguish, still holding tight to the hand that Luna had offered her. Hao couldn't do anything, couldn't even breathe, he just felt numb. A shadow fell over him and he looked up into Yoh's sorrowful face. "Yoh! You can bring her back." Stella cried, desperately throwing herself at Yoh. "Bring her back, please!"

"Stella…" Yoh said gently, grasping her shoulders. "She doesn't want to come back." Stella stared at him and then let out a wail of pain, collapsing to the ground and sobbing. Yoh went with her, wrapping his arms around her and holding her close. Hao felt as though he were in some dream, a terrible nightmare, but this was all too real. His fingers trembled as he closed Luna's eyes for her. "Are you proud of yourself?" Hao looked up to see Yoh restraining Stella from going after Marco, who was just standing there. "You killed a little girl, you monster! She was just a baby! She just wanted to protect her family!" Stella collapsed again, but this time it was Gregoire who caught her and held her.

"This is the product of your hatred." Yoh told the room at large. "You were willing to do whatever it took to destroy one man, and in so doing you snuffed out an innocent life. I hope you're happy with yourselves. We have taken the liberty of removing your powers." He said to the defeated X-Laws. "You've proven yourselves to be unable to be trusted with them." He turned to the Patch. "We will be looking for another group to be entrusted with our care in the coming tournaments. You will keep your power, for now."

"You can't do this!" Lady Jeanne protested.

"Actually, we can. We are the Shaman King, after all." Yoh, and the Great Spirit, replied. Hao noticed he'd said nothing to Lyserg, who was hiding in the corner, head down. Hao looked away, back to Luna. She looked like she was merely sleeping, more peaceful than he'd ever seen her. He stroked her cold cheek and the tears finally began to fall.

"I'm sorry, this is all my fault, I destroy everything I touch." He whispered, a tear slipping down to drip on her upturned face. "It would have been better if I had just died."

"Don't you ever think that." Yoh said, kneeling beside Hao. "You made her days brighter for her and for that we all thank you. It is not your fault what other people do. Marco is the only one to blame for Luna's death. Besides, she's back where she belongs, running free through the forest with her Pack. She's happy, completely happy now."

Hao sniffled unhappily. "I know, I know that in my heart, but it still hurts so damned much."

"It always will, I'm afraid." Yoh replied. "Come on, let's take her home." Hao nodded his head numbly. Yoh found a blanket somewhere and Hao wrapped it around Luna's form and lifted her up. She was so tiny in his arms and he let out a heartbroken sob, burying his face against the blanket.

He felt Yoh's hand on his shoulder, a brief sensation of the world flipping upside down and then his ears popped. He looked up and saw that they'd all been transported back to the inn. Anna came in and stopped dead at the sight of all them. She stared into the weary face of her husband and then looked at the bundle Hao still held in his arms.

She staggered back a step and put a hand to her mouth, and Hao saw for the first time Anna completely lose her composure and break down. "What happened?" She asked, voice hoarse.

"Marco got her, she was trying to protect Hao from him." Yoh replied, moving forward to take his wife in his arms.

"It's my fault, I'm sorry. If it wasn't for me…" A big hand dropped on his shoulder and squeezed, silencing him.

"If not you, would have been someone else." Gregoire rumbled, his voice tired and sad. "It was fate, she died to save the one she loved, as she wasn't able to do before."

"Protecting the Pack." Hao whispered, tears coming to his eyes again. He wasn't worth it, not this devotion, and he would live the rest of his life knowing that and trying to become something worth that kind of love.

"Let's get her cleaned up, and we can think about how we're going to bury her." Yoh suggested. Stella let out a whimpering sob at that. Hao nodded vaguely and set Luna's body down in the living room where Yoh directed. He wiped at his face, exhausted and hollow inside. Chewy chittered at the room at large, startling him.

He walked over to the cage and took Chewy out. "Sorry buddy, but she's gone." He whispered. Chewy squirmed out of his grip and trotted over to where Luna's body was. The room was silent as the ferret climbed up onto Luna's chest and looked down into her face, cocking his head this way and that. He nipped at Luna's nose briefly.

When he got no reaction he let out a sad little sound and lay down on Luna's chest, resting there for a moment, uttering soft, sad crooning sounds. After about a minute he got up and walked slowly back to his cage and lay down inside it. Hao petted his fur briefly.

"I'm so sorry." He murmured and then broke apart again, curling himself up and sobbing uncontrollably. He didn't even protest when Yoh's power slid through him, sending him into a dreamless sleep.

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Star: I AM SO SORRY!


	17. Chapter 17

Star: I own nothing!

Hao woke up and promptly burst into tears again. He curled up on the floor, huge gulping sobs shaking his entire body. He was crying so hard it hurt, and he couldn't breathe, but he couldn't stop. There were big, warm hands on his back, rubbing it soothingly and a voice murmuring calming words. It took a great deal of time but he was finally cried out and sat up, looking into his brother's tired, bloodshot eyes.

"She always woke me up, by pouncing on me." Hao whispered. Apparently he wasn't quite cried out yet because a few more tears leaked out, trailing down his cheeks.

"I know." Yoh said softly. "But Hao, she's happy now, you know for a fact that I know that."

"It still hurts."

"It always will, I'm afraid." Yoh told him. "But… it hurts because it mattered."

"You're right. She'd hate to see me crying over her, wouldn't she?" Hao wiped the wetness from his face as Yoh nodded and smiled. Hao got up to get ready for the day.

"She would. Hold on, before you get dressed, there's one more thing." Yoh put his hands on Hao's shoulder and what felt like a zap of electricity went through Hao's entire body. When he blinked the black spots out of his eyes he found himself staring eye-to-eye with Yoh, instead of having to look up at him. Yoh smiled sadly. "I think it's past time I did this."

Hao looked down at himself, vaguely noting that he'd been given his powers back as well. "I'm going to have to get a whole new wardrobe again." He muttered, his voice coming out much deeper than he was used to. Yoh chuckled quietly.

"Have a look through my things, I'm sure there's something Anna made me buy that's up to your standards."

"Thank you, brother." Hao said, using the familial term for the first time. Yoh smiled tiredly at him again and headed out of the room.

"We'll be leaving in an hour for Izumo, be ready." Yoh called as he left. Hao got dressed in one of Yoh's dress shirts and a pair of slacks. He was having a little trouble moving around in his new body, but he barely noticed all the times he tripped over his own feet. Once he was dressed he tiptoed over to Luna's room, feeling like he was about to desecrate something sacred.

He stepped inside and looked around. There was a calendar with dolphins on it on the wall, along with a couple of cute posters of kittens and other baby animals. The dresser drawers were open and clothes hung out of them. Rocks, leaves, feathers and other odd little trinkets that Luna liked to pick up covered the top of the dresser. Her bed was unmade still, the blankets and pillows arranged to make a nest of sorts.

Hao looked around the room, feeling the lump rise in his throat as he stood there. He could feel Luna in here, practically smell her. He half-expected to be taken down in a flying tackle hug again, but he shook off the memories of the room and crossed over to the bookshelf. He pulled Clifford the Big Red Dog off the shelf and riffled through its tattered and well-loved pages.

He carried it downstairs with him. The others were nursing cups of coffee or tea. No one was eating breakfast, no one could think of stomaching food at this time. The knowledge of Luna's wrapped and shrouded body in the next room hung over them all like dark clouds. Ren and Horohoro nodded at Hao when he came in, looking unsurprised by his changed appearance, or simply too locked up in their grief to notice.

Hana stepped up to him, looking up to him. "I guess this means you're really my uncle now, huh?" Hao nodded his head, throat too tight to form words. Hana shook his head, tears coming to his eyes. "I'm sorry, if I'd just been there sooner-"

"Don't even think it." Hao said hoarsely. "You did all you could and I, and your parents, are proud of you." Hana lurched forward into Hao, wrapping his arms around his middle and clinging to him. He came up only to just below Hao's sternum now. Hao carefully stroked Hana's hair, too exhausted to cry anymore.

Stella and Gregoire were the last to come in. Stella looked like she hadn't slept and was rumpled and dressed in one of Gregoire's sweatshirts and a pair of jeans. She looked small and lost; eyes bloodshot and red-rimmed, nose red as well. Gregoire sat with her, a silent guardian, his hand every so often reaching out to rub her back.

"Alright, it's time to go." Yoh finally said. He held Luna's wrapped body in his arms. In the blink of an eye they all found themselves standing in the family cemetery in Izumo. Mikihisa and Keiko were already waiting by an open grave and a small, simple casket. Yoh's parents looked older, though the grief on their faces made them appear even older. They both looked at Hao with gentle sympathy and said nothing about his presence.

Yoh lay Luna's body down in the coffin, arranging her hands so they were folded against her chest. "You are so loved, dear Luna." He murmured softly and then stood, allowing the others to come forward and say their goodbyes. Hana went forward first, and placed a deflated soccer ball in with Luna.

"Remember the first time you tried to play with us, and you popped the ball? We laughed and laughed because you looked so stunned. That was the first time you laughed with us. I'm going to miss you chasing soccer balls and laughing. Hopefully they got balls for you to chase wherever you are." Hana said, touching her cheek gently and then moving away.

Ren and Horohoro stepped forward, kneeling beside the casket. Horohoro placed the squeaky ball he'd given Luna in the casket with her. "You were always so crazy, but you lit up the world with your joy. The world's a little darker without you around." Horohoro said.

"You have such a courageous and kind heart, Luna, be at peace, you've earned it." Ren added.

Hao stepped forward next and knelt on the ground, looking down at her. He stroked her soft, thin white hair affectionately. "You saved me. Not only from Marco, but before that too. You saved me from myself and taught me how to see the beautiful things in life again. Thank you Luna." He put the Clifford book in with her. "You got me to read that so many times I think I could recite it in my sleep. Hopefully you've got someone up there to read it to you now." He leaned down to give her one last kiss on her forehead and moved away, letting Stella and Gregoire take their turn.

He was surprised when Stella put her prized Darth Vader doll in the casket, arranging Luna's hands so that she was holding it. Hao could see the teeth marks where Luna had chewed on it. "I know you something thought I cared more about these things than you, but it was never true. I'd give it all up even just for one last day with you. I won't forget you and I'll come run in that forest with you someday."

"Run and be free little wolf." Gregoire said simply and then helped his distraught lover to stand again. Yoh and Hao placed the lid of the casket on and lowered it down into the ground. Each of their friends and family threw a handful of dirt into the grave before Yoh used his power to fill it in and plant a small sapling over top of it.

"She'll be happy knowing she's helping something grow." Anna murmured, her husband's hand around her waist, holding her close. As they all turned to head back they spotted a lonely figure standing by the entrance to the cemetery. Hao felt rage bubble up in him at the sight of green hair.

Anna was faster than him though and marched up to Lyserg, smacking him hard across the face. Lyserg didn't try to fight back, hanging his head. "You are the biggest idiot I have ever met. Did you honestly think no one else would get hurt if you brought them in?" Anna demanded.

"I didn't think…" Lyserg murmured.

"No, you didn't think, not with your rational head at least." Yoh said sternly. "If you had you would have stopped to consider that other people might get caught in the crossfire. For heaven's sake I know you saw how devoted Luna was to Hao. Did you not consider that she might fight back, protect what she considered to be hers?"

"I'm sorry." Lyserg whispered.

"That's not enough." Hao snarled. Lyserg glared half-heartedly at him.

"I agree with my brother. Sorrys aren't going to cut it this time. You may not have been the one to pull the trigger but if it wasn't for you, Marco would never have known." Yoh said quietly. Lyserg gave him a pleading look.

"You forgive him but you can't forgive me?" He demanded, gesturing at Hao.

"I didn't totally forgive him until yesterday." Yoh replied. "I can care about people without having forgiven them. I care about you, but I am also very angry with you as well."

"I understand. You didn't take my powers like you did the others." Lyserg remembered.

"Consider it a chance to try and make up for what you've done. I've a feeling you'll punish yourself enough without me having to add to it." Yoh stated. "I think you should go home Lyserg." He added quietly. "You won't be very welcome at the inn for quite some time."

Lyserg opened his mouth, presumably to argue and then closed it again, nodding and looking miserable. Yoh patted his shoulder once and then transported the rest of them back to the inn.

"So what now then?" Hao asked. "Am I going to be kicked out now?"

"No, you're still part of the family." Yoh replied. "As for what you should do, find something to work on, occupy yourself. You'll go crazy if you don't. And above all, don't dwell in sadness, if only for Luna's sake. You know how she hates seeing you sad."

"I will try."

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Star: Review plz!


	18. Chapter 18

Star: To my anon who asked about Luna's family. In my mind I don't think Yoh would want to bring back people from the dead, because he'd be taking them away from whatever peaceful place they'd found themselves in. In addition to that Yoh understands that death must be respected and that there are certain things that should not be done, like messing with Fate. I know a lot of people have the Shaman King reviving a lot of people but for me that messes too much with the nature of the universe. Things live, they die and then move on, there shouldn't be too much tampering with that, otherwise you could wind up destroying the universe. In Luna's Pack's case I think the wolves would just be too confused about finding themselves alive and angry about being denied the peace they'd attained. Gregoire of course is an exception but that was done by someone who didn't understand the nature of the balance and cycle of life and death, unlike Yoh is. TL;DR Final chapter, enjoy!

Two months passed by and the days were a little easier for Hao to bear. He still missed Luna like he'd lost a piece of himself, and in truth he sort of did. It was quieter in the inn without her around, which at times was nice, but it made the place a little lonelier. He made sure he didn't dwell on his grief though, knowing that she would be sad if he did.

Truth be told it was a little easier now because of his studies. He'd gone to university, to study politics and environmental law. It was a little hard to dwell in the past when you were studying and doing assignments all the time. It was hard work, but it was interesting.

He walked home with a light heart. He'd had his first midterm that day and was confident that he'd gotten almost everything right. His IQ was tested before the start of the semester and found to be genius level. Of course he'd boasted about it for days, until Hana cheekily pointed out that he'd yet to figure out how to program a DVD player.

Anna had been talking about adding a new addition to their family, though they all had yet to figure out if she meant kids or pets. Chewy had transferred his affections onto Hana, who was quite happy to have a ferret run around him. Hao was getting the feeling Anna was talking about children though, and snickered at the thought that Hana would have to babysit his baby brother.

He walked along, feeling pretty good about himself. Why shouldn't he, after all? He had no plans that he had to worry about, no enemies to come and grab him in his sleep. His new path made him happy, and he no longer felt a twinge of disgust at the sight of another human being anymore. He silently thanked Luna for her gift of life to him and was almost certain he felt a lick in reply.

He wasn't really paying attention to his surroundings, he knew the area, but he felt compelled to stop in front of one of the buildings. He looked up at it and raised an eyebrow. This seemed out of place in the near-perfect future that Yoh had created. With a great amount of curiosity Hao decided to step inside and see what it was all about.

%&%&%&%

"Hey brother." Yoh looked up from the papers he was scanning and smiled at Hao. "What are you working on now?"

"Just some contracts Ren sent me to look over. Apparently I'm better at spotting things that we don't necessarily want than he is." Yoh explained. "The legal jargon does still bore me to tears."

"I'm not surprised." Hao replied. He smiled, and Yoh noted that the sadness that was always present in his dark eyes was dimmed.

"Do well on your test?"

"Obviously." Hao replied haughtily. "I came across something interesting today."

"Oh, what's that?"

"An animal shelter." Yoh raised an eyebrow at Hao. "It just doesn't seem like something that would be needed nowadays."

"Not in the sense that you're thinking, I believe." Yoh replied. "While we don't get many cases of animal abuse or abandonment these days, there are still cases of people buying a pet and finding it doesn't really fit into their lifestyle, or a pet whose owner has passed on and there's no one to take them. Shelters all have a no-kill policy and plenty of space for their animals these days, so though some animals wind up in shelters for the rest of their lives they are very well taken care of and happy."

"They seemed happy." Hao shrugged at the amused look Yoh gave him. "I might have gone in, and I might have signed up for volunteer work."

Yoh chuckled. "I get the feeling you left that place with more than just a volunteer position." Hao grinned at him.

"Now why would you think that, brother dear?"

"Because there's a dog with a wagging tail and a chewed up leash standing behind you." Yoh pointed out. The dog was a big Shepherd with a predominantly dark coat, his lighter markings only a shade away from being dirty blonde.

"You were supposed to be waiting for me." Hao informed the dog, who barked happily at him, tail waving madly. "This is Sol, he was a bit too rambunctious for his last owners, I thought… well I figured we had an opening for a rambunctious canine."

"Yes, we certainly do." Sol bounded over to Yoh, licking his outstretched hands and yipping happily at him. By this point the sounds had drawn the other occupants of the house into the area and Sol was deliriously happy at all the attention.

"So what, it's getting too quiet for you around here?" Stella teased as she scratched Sol's ears.

"What, you don't want him?" Hao teased back.

"I think he'll make a fine addition to the family, and I know Luna will approve."

"Well then, welcome to the family, Sol." Yoh grinned. Anna smiled slightly.

"If we're having announcements time, then I have one of my own." Everyone looked at her expectantly. "I'm pregnant."

**THE END**

Star: There you have it.


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